IE  HISPANIC 
OF  AMERICA 


BLVM 
ENTH 

EX    A   I     LIB 
88  /\   ^  RIS 


SPANISH   IRONWORK 

HISPANIC  SOCIETY  PUBLICATIONS 

NO.  89 


GILDED    IRON    PULPIT   IN   AVILA  CATHEDRAL. 
Renaissance.    Circa  1520. 


SPANISH  IRONWORK 


BY 

ARTHUR   BYNE 

AND 

MILDRED  STAPLEY 


WITH  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  EIGHT 
ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY 

OF  AMERICA 

1915 


COPYRIGHT,    1915,    BY 

THE    HISPANIC    SOCIETY 

OF    AMERICA 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS vii 

INTRODUCTION    xxi 

I    SPANISH  IRONWORK  PREVIOUS  TO  THE 

GOTHIC  PERIOD i 

II    GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS 20 

III  GOTHIC     HARDWARE    AND    DOMESTIC- 

UTENSILS   45 

IV  THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF  THE  RENAIS- 

SANCE REJA 69 

V  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH  REJAS so 

VI    SMALLER  RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS.  .  102 

VII    THE  LAST  OF  SPANISH  IRONWORK  ...  120 

INDEX 131 

CATALOGUE  OF  IRONWORK  IN  THE  COLLECTION 

OF  THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA.  139 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

GILDED  IRON  PULPIT  IN  AVILA  CATHEDRAL. 

Renaissance.    Circa  1520.  Frontispiece 

PAGE 

CELTIBERIAN    SWORD.    Found    at  Amarejo .  .       i 
Fig.  i.    EARLY  CATALAN  FORGE 3 

Fig.   2.    SANTA  CRUZ   REJA,  Pamplona  Cathe- 
dral.   Early  XI 1 1  Century 2 

Fig.  3.    REJA  ARABE,  CAPILLA  DEL  SAGRARIO, 

Palencia    Cathedral.     XIII    Century       4 

Fig.   4.  WINDOW    REJA,    Nuestra    Senora    del 

Mercado,  Leon.    Late  XIII  Century  .         4 

Fig.  5.  IRON  NAILS  WITH  WROUGHT  HEADS. 

Moorish.    XIV  Century IS 

Fig.  6.  IRON  NAILS  WITH  WROUGHT  HEADS. 

Spanish.    XVI  Century 15 

Fig.   7.  DETACHED    NAILHEADS   OR    BOSSES. 

XVI  Century 6 

Fig.   8.  BOSSES  AND  KNOCKERS.    Count  of  To- 
ledo's house.    XVI  Century 10 

Fig.  9.  IRON-MOUNTED  DOOR.    Avila.    Early 

XVI  Century 10 

vii 


viii  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig.  10.  COPPER-PLATED  DOORS.  Puerta  del  Per- 

don,  Mosque  of  Cordova.    1377  ....      12 

Fig.  11.  DETAILS  OF  PANELING  AND  KNOCKER, 

Puerta  del  Perdon 12 

Fig.  12.  BRONZE-MOUNTED  DOORS.  From  Se- 
villa  Cathedral,  now  in  the  Museo  Na- 
cional,  Madrid.  Late  XIV  Century  .  .  12 

Fig.  13.  IRON-PLATED  DOORS.    Main  Portal  of 

Tarragona  Cathedral.    1510 14 

Fig.  14.  CLOISTER  REJAS,  Barcelona  Cathedral. 

Early  XIV  Century 16 

Fig.  15.  REJA  OF  A  CLOISTER  CHAPEL,  Barcelona 

Cathedral 18 

Fig.  16.  REJA  OF  A  CLOISTER  CHAPEL,  Barcelona 

Cathedral     20 

Fig.  17.  DETAIL  OF  REJA  LOCK.    Cloister  Chapel, 

Barcelona  Cathedral 23 

Fig.  18.  REJA,  CAPILLA  DE  NUESTRA  SENORA 
DE  LAS  ANGUSTIAS.  Church  of  San 
Pablo,  Palencia.  Early  XV  Century  .  24 

Fig.  19.  WINDOW  REJA.     Archiepiscopal  Palace, 

Salamanca.    XVI  Century 20 

Fig.  20.  WINDOW  REJA.    Casa  de  las  Conchas, 

Salamanca.    1514 20 

Fig.  21.  LATTICE  REJA,  Puerta  del  Obispo  Tenorio, 
Cloisters  of  Toledo  Cathedral.  Circa 
1400  .  22 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  ix 

PAGE 

Fig.  22.  LATTICE  WINDOW  REJA.    House  of  Pedro 

Davila,  Avila.    XVI  Century 22 

Fig.  23.  DETAIL  OF  INTERSECTIONS.  LATTICE 
Wi  NDOW  REJA.  House  of  Pedro  Davila, 
Avila.  XVI  Century 28 

Fig.  24.  SPLIT  BAR  REJA.    Patio  of  the  Count  of 

Toledo's  House,  Toledo     .......      30 

Fig.  25.  SPLIT  BAR  MOTIF.    Reja  of  the  Royal 

Chapel,  Granada.    1518-23     .......      24 

Fig.  26.  TYPICAL   PATTERNING    INTO  WHICH 

BARS  WERE  OPENED 31 

Fig.  27.  GOTICO-FLORIDO   REJA.     Casa  de   las 

Conchas,  Salamanca.    1514     26 

Fig.  28.  GOTICO-FLORIDO  REJA.    Casa    de    las 

Conchas,  Salamanca.    1514     26 

Fig.  29.  TOMB  REJA  OR  VERJA.  Tomb  of  Bishop 
Diego  de  Anaya,  Old  Cathedral  of  Sal- 
amanca. Circa  1450 28 

Fig.  30.  REJA,  CAPILLADE  SANTA  ANA.    Burgos 

Cathedral.    1488 28 

Fig.  31.  CLOISTER  REJA.    Cresting  in  color,  Si- 

giienza  Cathedral.    1508 30 

Fig.  32.  CLOISTER  REJA.    Cresting  in  color,  Si- 

guenza  Cathedral.    1508 30 

Fig.  33.  RUBBING  OF  UNDER  PLATE  OF  TRA- 
CERY BAND 32 

Fig.  34.  RUBBING  OF  UPPER  PLATE  OF  TRA- 
CERY BAND  .  32 


X  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig.  35.  THE  Two  PLATES  RIVETED  TOGETHER. 

Middle  XV  Century 32 

Fig.  36.  RUBBING  OF  UNDER  PLATE  OF  TRA- 
CERY BAND    34 

Fig.  37.  RUBBING  OF  UPPER  PLATE  OF  TRA- 
CERY BAND 34 

Fig.  38.  THE  Two  PLATES  RIVETED  TOGETHER. 

Middle  XV  Century 34 

Fig.  39.  FOLIATED  BAND.    Pierced  and  Beaten  in 

Repousse.    Late  XV  Century 41 

Fig.  40.  FLAMBOYANT  GOTHIC  PULPIT.    Avila 

Cathedral.    Circa  1520     36 

Fig.  41.  WROUGHT  IRON  HINGES,  Church  of  San 

Millan,  Segovia 36 

Fig.  42.  CRUDE    DOOR     KNOCKER.      Probably 

early  XV  Century 38 

Fig.  43.  DOOR  KNOCKER.    Showing  early  use  of 

crown  motif.    Later  XIV  Century     .   .      40 

Fig.  44.  GOTHIC-RENAISSANCE  DOOR  KNOCKER. 

Early  XVI  Century 42 

Fig.  45.  GOTHIC-RENAISSANCE  DOOR  KNOCKER. 

Early  XVI  Century 44 

Fig.  46.  GOTHIC-RENAISSANCE  DOOR  KNOCKER. 

About  1660 44 

Fig.  47.  ARCHAIC  HAMMER  OF  A  XV  CENTURY 

DOOR  KNOCKER  .  48 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

PAGE 

Fig.  48.  ARCHAIC  HAMMER  OF  A  XV  CENTURY 

DOOR  KNOCKER 48 

Fig.  49.  DOOR  KNOCKER  WITH  A  SINGLE  BOSSE. 

Late  XVI  Century     46 

Fig.  so.  DOOR  KNOCKER  WITH  DOUBLE  BOSSE. 

Late  XVI  Century     46 

Fig.  51.  STIRRUP  KNOCKER.    XVII  Century  .  .      48 

Fig.  52.  PILGRIM  SHELL  KNOCKER.    Early  XVII 

Century 48 

Fig.  53.  ONE  OF  A  PAIR  OF  GOTHIC   DOOR 

KNOCKERS.    XV  Century 50 

Fig.  54.  DOOR  KNOCKER  OF  MUDEJAR  DESIGN. 

XVII  Century 50 

Fig.  55.   KNOCKER.    Gothic    in  spirit  but  prob- 
ably XVIII  Century  work 50 

Fig.  56.  DOOR  KNOCKER  WITH  INCISED  PAT- 
TERNING.   XV  Century 52 

Fig.  57.  RING   HANDLE   WITH   CLINCH.    XVI 

Century 52 

Fig.  58.  RING  HANDLE  WITH  BOSSE.    XVI  Cen- 
tury        52 

Fig.  59.  RING  KNOCKER  OF  MOORISH  INSPI- 
RATION.   XVI  Century 52 

Fig.  60.  RING  HANDLE  OF  ORIENTAL  DESIGN. 

Late  XVI  Century     54 

Fig.  61.  DOOR  KNOCKER  OF  ORIENTAL  INSPI- 
RATION.   About  1600  .  54 


Xii  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig.  62.  DOOR  KNOCKER  OF  ORIENTAL  DESIGN. 

Late  XVI  Century     54 

Fig.  63.  DOOR  KNOCKER  WITH  MUDEJAR  TRA- 
CERY.   Late  XVI  Century 56 

Fig.  64.  DOOR  HANDLE  WITH  MUDEJAR  TRA- 
CERY.   Late  XVI  Century 56 

Fig.  65.  DOOR  KNOCKER  WITH  GOTHIC  BACK- 
PLATE.    XVII  Century 53 

Fig.  66.  GOTHIC  KNOCKER.    Late  XVI  Century     55 

Fig.  67.  RICH  FLAMBOYANT  KNOCKER.    Middle 

XVI  Century 58 

Fig.  68.  KNOCKER  OF  ARAGONESE  TYPE.  XVII 

Century 60 

Fig.  69.  KNOCKER  OF  ARAGONESE  TYPE.  XVII 

Century 60 

Fig.  70.  DOOR  KNOCKER.    Tentative  Renaissance 

but  made  in  the  XVII  Century  ....      60 

Fig.  71.  DOOR   KNOCKER  WITH  OPEN  BACK- 
PLATE.    XVII  Century 60 

Fig.  72.  DOOR  KNOCKER  OF  EARLY  RENAIS- 
SANCE DESIGN.   About  1600   ....     60 

Fig.  73.  CHEST  LOCK  WITH  TYPICAL  FIXING 

STAPLES.    Late  XV  Century 62 

Fig.  74.  CHEST  LOCK  WITH  CANOPY.    Late  XV 

Century 62 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

PAGE 

Fig.  75.  CHEST  LOCK  WITH  FALSE  FIXING  STA- 
PLE OVER  KEYHOLE.  Late  XVI  Cen- 
tury    58 

Fig.  76.  LOCK  AND   HASP.    Elaborate   Mudejar 

design.    XVII  Century 64 

Fig.  77.  CHEST  HASP.    Late  XVI  Century   ...      66 

Fig.  78.  CHEST  HASP.  Typical  of  the  XVII  Cen- 
tury    66 

Fig.  79.  CHEST  HASP.  Typical  of  the  XVII  Cen- 
tury    66 

Fig.  80.  LOCKPLATE  AND  HASP.    Probably  XVI I 

Century 59 

Fig.  si.  ARGON,  OR  TRUNK  WITH  IRON  FIT- 
TINGS    68 

Fig.  82.  SMALL  LEATHER  STRONG  Box  ....     68 

Fig.  83.  TABLE  CANDELERO  PATTERNED  AFTER 
THE  ROMAN.  In  the  Museum  of  Vich. 
XI  Century 63 

Fig.  84.  TABLE  CANDELERO.    Catalan.    In  the 

Museum  of  Vich.    XV  Century  ....      63 

Fig.  85.  ECCLESIASTICAL  CANDELABRA.  Cata- 
lan. In  the  Museum  of  Vich.  XIII 
Century 64 

Fig.  86.  ECCLESIASTICAL  CANDELABRA.  Cata- 
lan. In  the  Museum  of  Vich.  XV 
Century 64 


Xiv  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig.  87.  ECCLESIASTICAL  CANDELABRA.     XVI 

Century 68 

Fig.  88.  BRAZIER  IN  Two  STORIES.  XVII  Cen- 
tury    68 

Fig.  89.  BRAZIER  ON  WHEELS.    Catalan.    XIV 

Century , 65 

Fig.  90.  IRON  FIRE-DOG.  Catalan.  XV  Cen- 
tury    66 

Fig.  91.  GUARD  AND   FIRE-DOGS.    Museo  del 

Greco,  Toledo     67 

Fig.  92.  RENAISSANCE    BAND    IN    REPOUSSE. 

Perforated.    Early  XVI  Century    ...      70 

Fig.  93.  RENAISSANCE    BAND    IN    REPOUSSE. 

XVI  Century 70 

Fig.  94.  RENAISSANCE    BAND    IN    REPOUSSE. 

Middle  XVI  Century 70 

Fig.  95.  RENAISSANCE    BAND    IN    REPOUSSE. 

Late  XVI  Century     70 

Fig.  96.  NAVE  OF  BURGOS  CATHEDRAL.  Show- 
ing the  importance  of  the  reja  in  Span- 
ish churches 72 

Fig.  97.  REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA  DE  SANTA 
LiBRADA.  Siguenza  Cathedral.  Early 
XVI  Century 74 

Fig.  98.    REJA  OF  THE  PUERTA  DEL  CARDO.     Leon 

Cathedral.    Late  XV  Century    ....      76 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

PAGE 

Fig.  99.  REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA  DE  SANTA  MAG- 
DALENA.  Cloisters  of  Tarragona  Cathe- 
dral. Early  XVI  Century 76 

Fig.  100.  REJA  OF  THE  CORO.    Toledo  Cathedral. 

1549 76 

Fig.  101.  REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA  MAYOR.   Sevilla 

Cathedral.    1518-33 78 

Fig.  102.  PANEL  OF  THE  ENTOMBMENT.  Reja 
of  the  Capilla  Mayor,  Sevilla  Cathe- 
dral    87 

Fig.  103.  REJA  OF  THE  CORO.    Sevilla  Cathedral. 

1519  .   . 80 

Fig.  104.  REJA  IN  THE  CAPILLA  REAL.    Granada. 

1523 82 

Fig.  105.  ARMS  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA 

AND  THEIR  GRANDSON   CHARLES  V. 

Reja  in  the  Capilla  Real,  Granada.    1523     84 

Fig.  106.  REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA  DE  LA  PRESEN- 
TACION.  Burgos  Cathedral.  Middle 
XVI  Century 84 

Fig.  107.  REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA  DEL  CONDES- 

TABLE.     Burgos  Cathedral.     1523  .   .      86 

Fig.  108.  ESCALERA  DORADA  OR  GOLDEN  STAIR- 
WAY. Burgos  Cathedral.  1519  ...  88 

Fig.  109.  REJA  OF  THE  CORO.  Palencia  Cathe- 
dral. Probably  1555 90 

Fig.  no.  REJA   OF   A   SIDE   CHAPEL.    Cuenca 

Cathedral.    Middle  XVI  Century  ...      92 


Xvi  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig.  ill.  REJA  OF  A  SIDE  CHAPEL.  Segovia  Ca- 
thedral. Late  XVI  Century 92 

Fig.  112.  REJA  OF  THE  CORO.  Plasencia  Cathe- 
dral, 1604 94 

Fig.  113.  PORTION    OF    A    REJA    CRESTING. 

Northern  Spain.    Early  XVII  Century.      96 

Fig.  114.  GATE  REJA  LEADING  TO  STAIRWAY. 
Salamanca  University.  Early  XVI 
Century 98 

Fig.  115.  ENTRANCE  REJA  TO  LIBRARY.  Sala- 
manca University.  XVI  Century  ...  98 

Fig.  116.  ENTRANCE  GATES.    XVII  Century  .  .    103 

Fig.  117.  TYPICAL  FACADE  WITH  WINDOW  RE- 

JAS.    House  in  Granada 100 

Fig.  118.  WINDOW  REJA,  FAQADE  OF  THE  UNI- 
VERSITY OF  ALCALA 100 

Fig.  119.  WINDOW  REJA,  CASA  DE  PILATOS.    Se- 

villa.    Middle  XVI  Century 100 

Fig.  120.  WINDOW  WITH  REJA  HOOD.    Toledo. 

XVI  Century 102 

Fig.  121.  WINDOW  REJA.    Facade  of  the  Audien- 

cia.    Granada.    XVII  Century     .   .   .    106 

Fig.  122.  RENAISSANCE  PULPIT.  Avila  Cathe- 
dral. Early  XVI  Century 104 

Fig.  123.  RENAISSANCE  PULPIT.  Sevilla  Cathe- 
dral. Early  XVI  Century 106 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 

PAGE 

Fig.  124.  SWINGING  PULPIT.    Monastery  of  Las 

Huelgas,  Burgos.    XVI  Century     .   .   .     106 

Fig.  125.  MOORISH    KEYS.      Sevilla    Cathedral. 

Probably  XII  Century 110 

Fig.  126.  GOTHIC  KEY, Aragonese.    XIV Century    111 

Fig.  127.  SPANISH  KEYS  OF  THE  XVI,  XVII, 

AND  XVIII  CENTURIES 108 

Fig.  128.  VARGUENO  WITH    DECORATIONS   IN 

IRON.    XVI  Century 108 

Fig.  129.  FLATTENED  OUT  CORNER-BRACE  OF  A 

VARGUENO    114 

Fig.  130.  VARGUENO  LOCK.    XVI  Century  ...    116 

Fig.  131.  FACE  OF  VARGUENO  SHOWING  IRON 

MOUNTINGS.    XVI  Century 110 

Fig.  132.  RUBBING  FROM  A  VARGUENO  LOCK- 
PLATE.    XVI  Century 114 

Fig.  133.  RUBBING  FROM  A  VARGUENO  LOCK- 
PLATE.    XVII  Century 114 

Fig.  134.  VARGUENO  LOCKPLATE  WITH   HASP. 

XVII  Century 116 

Fig.  135.  VARGUENO  LOCKPLATE  WITH  HASP. 

XVII  Century ......      116 

Fig.  136.  A  PAIR  OF  RENAISSANCE   FIXING- 

STAPLES 11? 

Fig.  137.  A  PAIR  OF  RENAISSANCE  DOOR  KNOCK- 
ERS.   XVII  Century 116 


XViii  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Fig.  138.  LOCKPLATE  AND  HASP.    XVII  Century    116 

Fig.  139.  KNOCKER  EXHIBITING  GREEK  RE- 
VIVAL. XVIII  Century 118 

Fig.  140.  DOOR  KNOCKER.  Renaissance  back- 
plate.  Hammer  of  Classic  Inspiration.  118 

Fig.  141.  DOOR  HANDLE  AND  ESCUTCHEON 
PLATE.  From  a  Palace  in  Palma, 
Balearic  Isles.  XVII  Century  ....  119 

Fig.  142.  BALCONY  FRONT.     From  a  Palace  in 

Palma.    XVIII  Century 121 

Fig.  143.  BALCONY  WITH  A  CURVED  FRONT. 

Palace  in  Palma.    XVIII  Century  .   .   .     121 

Figs.  144  and  145.     BALCONIES     WITH     SCROLL 

BRACKETS.    Salamanca.    XVIII   Cen- 
tury   120 

Fig.  146.  BALCONY  WITH  OVERHEAD  BRACES. 
Santa  Coloma  de  Queralt,  Catalonia. 
Dated  1760 122 

Fig.  147.  IRON  STAIR-BALUSTRADE.     Patio   of 

the  Palacio  Oleza.    Palma 122 

Fig.  148.  ARMADURA  OR  WELL  CRANE.    Palma. 

XVII  Century 122 

Fig.  149.  TYPICAL  IRON  BRACKET 123 

Fig.  ISO.    CRUZ  DELINDE  OR  BOUNDARY  CROSS. 

Catalan.    XV  Century     124 

Fig.  isi.  TABLE  WITH  WROUGHT  IRON  BRACES.    126 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  xix 

PAGE 

Fig.  152.  ONE  OF  FOUR  IRON  CHAIRS  OF  THE 

XVII  CENTURY .    127 

Fig.  153.  CATALAN  GRIDIRON.    XVII  Century  .    128 

Fig.  154.  SPANISH  BIT  WITH  ORNAMENTS  TO 
WARD  OFF  THE  EVIL  EYE.  XVII 
Century 126 

Fig.  155.  SPUR  OF  A  CONQUISTADOR.  XVI  Cen- 
tury   126 

Fig.  156.  STIRRUP  OF  A  CONQUISTADOR.    XVI 

Century 126 

Fig.  157.  GRILLE  IN  MARKET,  Granada.    Late 

XVIII  Century 128 

Fig.  158.  DOOR  IRONWORK  OF  THE  CASA  CON- 
SI  STORIAL.  Barcelona.  Late  XIX 
Century 128 


INTRODUCTION 

SPAIN  is  rich  in  decorative  ironwork  which,  like 
the  architecture  it  embellishes,  is  comparatively 
unknown.  Of  the  two  arts  it  is  Spanish  iron- 
work that  owes  least  to  foreign  influence,  for  those  who 
practised  it  were,  in  contrast  to  the  many  foreign 
architects  employed,  almost  invariably  native  born. 
Little  is  known  of  individual  workers  of  the  Gothic 
age;  from  the  Renaissance  period,  however,  a  few 
names  have  come  down  to  us  but  without  those  inti- 
mate details  which  make  the  craftsman  a  living  and 
present  reality  to  the  modern  who  admires  his  work. 
To  appreciate  the  productions  of  these  unrecorded 
artists  one  must  know  something  of  metalwork  in 
general  as  practised  in  the  East,  since  to  iron  the 
Spanish  Moors  imparted,  along  with  their  basic  prin- 
ciples of  design,  their  delicate  methods  of  working  gold 
and  silver;  one  must  be  familiar  also  with  French  iron- 
work during  the  Romanesque  and  early  Gothic  periods, 
for  that,  too,  influenced  the  Spanish  smith;  and  lastly, 
one  must  understand  Renaissance  architecture  as 
evolved  in  Italy  because  that  style,  when  it  came  to 
Spain,  so  stimulated  the  ironworker  that  he  attained 
an  amazing  grandeur  and  architectonic  quality  in  his 


XX11  INTRODUCTION 

work  that  was  never  approached  elsewhere.  In  Italy 
itself,  ironworking  was  not  a  popular  craft;  it  was 
rather  on  the  precious  metals  that  great  artists  like 
Benvenuto  Cellini  expended  their  talent;  but  in  Spain 
the  baser  and  less  tractable  metal  appealed  more  to  the 
indomitable  temper  of  the  people,  and  artists  of  the 
highest  rank  worked  in  it.  These,  apprehending  that 
its  inherent  quality,  strength,  was  best  expressed  on  a 
grand  scale,  created  those  monumental  works  which 
give  Spain  a  unique  position  in  the  realm  of  artistic 
ironwork. 

Outside  of  the  country  itself  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
study  these  achievements,  since  their  size  and  weight 
have  made  removal  practically  impossible;  but  there, 
still  standing  in  the  very  surroundings  for  which  they 
were  designed,  they  make  a  journey  to  Spain  well  worth 
while  for  the  student. 

Monumentality  is  but  one  of  the  distinguishing 
features  of  Spanish  ironwork;  an  equally  interest- 
ing one  is  that  exotic  feeling  which  pervades  all  the 
industrial  arts,  and  even  the  architecture,  of  Spain. 
The  Moorish  occupation  of  seven  centuries  is  a  circum- 
stance unparalleled  in  any  other  European  country 
and  its  influence  on  all  Spanish  art  was  lasting.  This 
Orientalism,  sometimes  preserved  pure,  sometimes 
combined  with  European  designs,  is  to  be  found 
mostly  in  smaller  objects,  and  may  therefore  be 
studied  in  the  various  museums  which  have  succeeded 
in  obtaining  examples.  Larger  Mudejar  productions, 
such  as  the  grand  doors  at  Cordova,  being  as  difficult 
of  transportation  as  the  great  church  rejas,  must 


INTRODUCTION  XXlii 

remain  unknown  to  many  except  through  photographs 
and  description. 

As  is  natural  in  a  country  where  inspiration  has  so 
frequently  been  drawn  from  foreign  sources,  there  is  a 
certain  lack  of  continuity  in  the  development  of  the 
various  arts,  not  excluding  ironwork.  This,  while 
sometimes  baffling,  never  fails  to  be  interesting.  For- 
tunately, foreign  influence  never  undermined  the 
Spanish  smith's  reverence  for  sound  constructive 
methods;  these  prevailed  to  the  end  and  lend  a  cer- 
tain sincerity  to  even  the  latest  period  when  the  frank- 
ness and  naivete  of  early  work  had  been  lost. 


CELTIBERIAN  SWORD. 

Found  at  Amarejo. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

No.  161. 


SPANISH  IRONWORK 


EARLY    PRODUCTIONS 

SPAIN  was  the  greatest  metalliferous  country  of 
antiquity,  but  history  fails  to  tell  us  at  what 
period  the  use  and  manufacture  of  iron  was  first 
known  there.  There  is  every  evidence,  as  in  other 
European  countries,  of  a  native  industry  in  copper  and 
silver,  and  of  a  knowledge  of  bronze,  before  iron  was 
discovered.  In  connection  with  it,  one  of  the  earliest 
facts  known  is  that  the  Greek  colonists  who  settled 
Marseilles  in  the  sixth  century  B.C.  operated  iron  mines 
in  Spain,  from  which  they  fashioned  their  war  weapons. 
After  the  Spanish  people  came  under  Roman  rule  they 
used  those  types  of  Roman  arms  and  utensils  found  in 
every  elementary  book  on  archeology;  there  was, 
however,  one  exception  to  the  general  rule  of  the  con- 
queror imposing  his  tools  on  the  conquered,  and  this 
was  the  Celtiberian  sword,  which  the  invaders  found  so 
superior  to  their  own  that  it  was  adopted  for  the  Roman 
army  after  the  Second  Punic  War.  These  swords  were 


2  PREVIOUS    TO    THE    GOTHIC    PERIOD 

unusually  wide  and  could  cut  on  both  edges;  one 
found  at  Amarejo  may  be  seen  in  the  Hispanic  So- 
ciety's collection,  No.  161.  The  Romans,  when  they 
began  to  manufacture  them,  were  not  able  to  imitate 
the  excellent  manner  of  their  tempering,  but  later 
acquired  great  skill  in  sword  making,  especially  in  Bil- 
bilis  (the  modern  Calatayud  in  the  province  of  Aragon). 

Of  the  earliest  iron  weapons  and  domestic  utensils, 
which  latter  were  probably  made  of  very  crudely 
smelted  metal,  hardly  an  example  has  survived. 
From  Visigothic  days,  the  fifth  to  the  eighth  century, 
we  have  even  less  data  on  the  manufacture  and  use  of 
iron.  It  appears  that  these  next  conquerors  modified 
its  use  in  armor  considerably,  doing  away  with  the  iron 
breastplates  and  protective  leg  pieces  of  the  Romans. 
When,  in  the  eighth  century,  the  Moors  took  posses- 
sion, they  imported  their  own  special  arms  and  weap- 
ons, copied  for  the  most  part  from  the  Persians.  As 
for  other  objects  than  war  implements,  it  is  probable 
that  few  were  produced,  for  the  Moors  preferred  the 
more  precious  metals,  bronze  above  all.  Spanish 
Christians,  meanwhile,  were  using  the  same  armor  as 
other  European  states,  and  were  ordering  it  from  those 
northern  provinces  of  the  peninsula  which  the  Moors 
never  succeeded  in  conquering.  It  frequently  happens 
that  objects  from  this  period  are  classified  as  French 
from  their  likeness  to  work  produced  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Pyrenees. 

It  was  in  the  progressive  northern  region  of  Cata- 
lonia that  the  best  type  of  early  forge  for  smelting  iron 
was  evolved.  This  was  the  Catalan  forge  (Figure  1) 


FIG.  2.    SANTA  CRUZ   REJA. 
Pamplona  Cathedral.          Early  XIII  Century. 


PREVIOUS    TO    THE    GOTHIC    PERIOD  3 

which  may  still  be  met  with  in  remote  parts  of  Europe. 
From  it  was  obtained  the  best  malleable  iron  yet 


^c=^=l C^=^fy/y//?MKW«Kj^  ;  ..».  .«AC 

i  •  -^  >  »%;*J  •*  i; ' -*v%,  .'.\  ^  •"•",  ^.'  T:. ': ''  :\  *?  *?'* 

o":^'-.  *•*?.••»  *T*«   •  %,'t.A'    •   «. «dJ /?•'.'. M'» 
'".  *«Vlfv ••    "T»  1<%?    <^.* •  •C^v»*«W  'i*?'^ f.v%£! 


FIG.  1.    EARLY  CATALAN   FORGE. 

known,  easily  wrought,  free  from  foreign  matter  and 
bubbles,  and  in  large  enough  quantities  to  be  available 
for  the  forging  of  truly  artistic  works.  It  is  therefore  to 
the  provinces  north  of  the  Ebro  that  we  must  look  for 
the  earliest  and  best  specimens  of  Spanish  decorative 
iron. 

Previous  to  the  Catalan  forge  the  only  means  of 
smelting  iron  was  the  open  hearth  fire  used  as  far  back 


4  PREVIOUS    TO   THE    GOTHIC    PERIOD 

as  early  Egyptian  days  and  still  used  in  certain  parts  of 
India  by  native  smiths.  This  most  primitive  metallur- 
gical contrivance  was  a  mere  basin-shaped  hollow  in 
the  ground  containing  ignited  charcoal  and  the  sub- 
stances to  be  smelted;  the  fire  was  urged  by  a  blast  of 
air  blown  in  through  one  or  more  nozzles  from  a  bel- 
lows at  or  near  the  top.  The  process  gave  but  a  small 
amount  of  metal  and  consumed  a  large  amount  of 
charcoal.  What  the  Catalans  devised  was  a  rec- 
tangular hearth  in  a  permanent  building  close  to  the 
mine.  The  square  pit  was  lined  with  brick  or  stone 
of  a  kind  not  easily  acted  upon  by  heat,  and  was  sup- 
plied with  a  tuyere  or  blast-pipe  of  copper  penetrating 
one  of  the  pit  walls  near  the  top.  This  tuyere  had  a 
considerable  downward  inclination  so  that  the  air  met 
the  fuel  some  distance  down.  In  iron-smelting,  the 
ore  was  laid  in  a  heap  upon  an  eighteen-inch  layer  of 
charcoal  and  was  gradually  brought  to  the  metallic 
state  by  the  reducing  action  of  the  carbon  monoxide 
formed  at  the  mouth  of  the  tuyere.  The  metal  sank 
through  the  ignited  fuel  and  formed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  pit  a  spongy  mass  or  bloom  which  was  lifted  over 
the  edge  and  carried  to  the  nearby  forge.  A  mere 
hole  in  the  roof  of  the  building  served  as  a  chimney. 
How  imperfect  this  newer  process  was  is  proven  by 
the  fact  that  thousands  of  tons  of  slag  from  the  Cata- 
lan forge  have  since  been  profitably  smelted.  Yet  it 
was  such  an  advance  on  what  had  preceded  it  that  it 
was  installed  all  over  Europe  (perhaps  in  Germany  and 
Belgium  simultaneously  with  Catalonia)  and  remained 
for  centuries  the  best  thing  of  its  kind.  By  yielding 


FIG.  3.     REJA  ARABE,   CAPILLA   DEL  SAGRARIO. 
Palencia  Cathedral.      XIII   Century. 


FIG.  4.     WINDOW  REJA. 
Nuestra  Senora  Del  Mercado,  Le6n. 
Late  XIII  Century. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD  5 

an  excellent  malleable  iron  it  made  possible  the  great 
quantity  of  beautiful  medieval  ironwork. 

Malleable  iron  may  be  described  as  that  which  is 
capable  of  being  welded;  it  becomes  steel  when  hard- 
ened by  tempering  until  it  strikes  sparks  from  flint. 
Cast  iron  is  that  which  can  neither  be  hammered  nor 
welded.  Malleable  iron  has  at  first  a  granulated  tex- 
ture but  becomes,  through  repeated  heatings,  hammer- 
ings, and  rollings,  quite  tough  and  flexible,  and  its 
granulated  texture  changes  into  a  fibrous  and  inter- 
woven one.  Besides  being  easily  wrought  when  hot, 
it  may  be  hammered  and  bent  when  cold.  Tempering 
it  in  cold  water  renders  it  slightly  harder,  while  ham- 
mering, drawing,  and  other  such  processes  make  it  both 
harder  and  more  elastic.  If  reheated  and  allowed  to 
cool  gradually,  it  becomes  soft  and  weldable  again  (for 
which  reason  much  beautiful  early  iron  was  remade 
into  later,  and  perhaps  inferior,  forms).  During  heat- 
ing it  passes  through  various  grades  of  workability  as 
the  temperature  increases,  first  becoming  red-hot,  then 
white-hot.  It  is  in  this  latter  condition  that  it  may  be 
bent,  stretched,  or  welded  with  greatest  ease. 

"The  texture  of  iron,  it  is  well  known,  becomes  loos- 
ened by  heat;  and  as  it  softens,  bars  will  droop  and 
curl  into  scrolls  under  a  relatively  slight  impulse,  this 
property  rendering  it  so  facile  a  metal  in  the  hands  of 
the  smith.  When  hot  it  can  be  welded,  separate  pieces 
adhering  firmly  together  if  hammered  or  pressed;  rich 
and  intricate  effects  were  mainly  produced  in  this  man- 
ner. The  welding  point  is  the  highest  degree  of  heat 
the  iron  will  bear  without  burning  and  disintegrating, 


6  PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD 

and  its  management  requires  skill  and  dexterity.  The 
distinction  between  the  blacksmith's  art  and  any  other 
is  that  whatever  he  intends  to  do  he  must  do  quickly. 
He  must  strike  while  the  iron  is  hot,  for  as  the  fierce 
glow  fades  into  dull  red  its  plasticity  is  departing. 
The  quick  and  decisive  treatment  of  iron  while  it  is  hot 
and  transiently  in  a  plastic  condition  must  be  re- 
garded as  the  true  art  of  the  blacksmith,  and  of  neces- 
sity leads  to  vigorous  and  masculine  efforts.  The  tools 
of  the  smithy  proper  consist  merely  of  hammer  and 
anvil,  forge  and  bellows,  tongs  and  chisels.  In  the 
work  to  be  described,  small  objects,  however  com- 
plicated in  design,  were  nearly  always  welded  into  a 
single  piece;  while  in  grilles,  the  several  pieces  were 
fixed  by  driving  holes  through  the  heated  iron  and 
riveting  them  together,  or  more  commonly  by  binding 
the  pieces  round  with  hot  wisps  of  iron  called  collars. 
"In  appreciating  old  work  we  must  not  forget  that, 
while  the  smith  of  to-day  can  buy  his  iron  ready  rolled 
into  a  thousand  different  sections,  he  had  then  to  first 
beat  out  every  section  with  his  own  hand.  Hence  old 
ironwork  possesses  interest  and  attractions  which  few 
modern  examples  can  equal,  for  scarcely  any  old  piece 
fails  to  please.  The  explanation  is  simply  that  the 
olden-time  smith  cut  a  piece  from  his  shingled  bar 
which  he  judged  by  the  eye  would  beat  out  into  a  rod 
of  the  desired  length  or  curl  into  a  scroll  of  the  desired 
form.  More  or  less  sufficed  for  him,  and  by  his  method 
of  work  he  produced  an  irregularity  and  play  in  even  the 
most  monotonous  designs,  which  is  artistically  charming 
to  us,  but  which  was  possibly  a  source  of  reproach  to 


FIG.  7.     DETACHED   NAILHEADS  OR   BOSSES. 

XVI   Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Average  4  in.  sq.        Nos.  40,  42,  43,  46,  6,  7. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD  7 

himself.  The  designs  are  so  practical,  yet  so  rude,  that 
they  were  probably  produced  by  the  smith  who  exe- 
cuted the  work.  Even  if  directed  by  a  designer,  the 
smith's  capacity  must  have  been  thoroughly  gauged, 
and  the  technical  details  left  well  within  his  powers. 
It  appears  that,  when  no  specially  skilled  smith  was 
available,  only  the  simplest  forms  were  used,  the  capac- 
ity of  the  workers  controlling  the  demand."  J. 
Starkie  Gardner. 

For  centuries  the  laborious  task  of  fashioning  the 
desired  object  direct  from  the  bloom  fell  to  the  smith 
as  described  above;  there  were  no  mechanical  aids  to 
lessen  his  work.  Later  the  helve  hammer  was  installed 
weighing  from  twelve  hundred  to  twenty-four  hundred 
pounds,  and  worked  by  a  rough  cog-wheel  driven  by 
water  power.  This  hammer  beat  and  rebeat  the  bloom 
into  manageable  units  or  ingots,  which  could  be  trans- 
ported and  delivered  to  the  smith,  thus  making  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  live  at  a  distance  from  the  mines. 
Mechanical  hammering  dates  from  perhaps  the  four- 
teenth century;  and  until  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
bars  or  ingots  that  it  prepared  for  the  smith  were  not 
fit  to  be  used  for  fine  work  until  the  bestowal  of  much 
labor  upon  them. 

About  the  lost  art  of  treating  iron  so  as  to  reduce 
rusting  to  a  minimum,  there  has  been  much  specula- 
tion. It  is  generally  believed  that  the  result  was  ob- 
tained by  oil  dipping;  that  is,  by  heating  the  metal  to 
a  brilliant  cherry  red  and  thus  separating  the  mole- 
cules, and  then  immediately  immersing  it  in  linseed  or 
any  fine,  transparent  oil,  which  entered  the  spongy 


8          PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC  PERIOD 

mass  to  perhaps  only  an  imperceptible  depth,  yet  suffi- 
cient to  ward  off  rust,  and  to  create  a  superficial  hard- 
ness which  made  such  iron  available  for  tools;  further- 
more, it  gave  a  surface  which  could  be  brought  to  a 
fairly  high  polish.  Certain  it  is  that  modern  exposed 
ironwork,  unless  protected  by  successive  coats  of  paint 
which  rob  it  of  all  its  inherent  attractiveness  of  surface, 
will  deteriorate  almost  to  powder  in  a  century  or  even 
less. 

ROMANESQUE  REJAS 

Decorative  ironwork  everywhere  followed  the  various 
styles  of  architecture;  and  as  Spain  (that  is,  northern 
Spain  where  the  smith  was  most  important)  had  no 
definite  style  of  architecture  until  Romanesque  was 
introduced  from  France,  the  story  of  Spanish  iron  does 
not  really  commence  until  Romanesque  had  firmly 
taken  root  in  the  land.  Previous  to  its  appearance 
the  remnant  of  the  Visigoths  whom  the  Moors  had 
driven  into  the  upper  peninsular  had  been  too  hard 
pressed,  first  with  the  mere  struggle  for  existence  and 
later  in  the  struggle  to  push  back  the  invader,  to  give 
heed  to  the  arts;  but  with  their  first  important  vic- 
tories over  the  Moors,  in  the  eleventh  century,  their 
gratitude  was  expressed  in  church-building.  As,  at 
this  time,  Spanish  kings  were  accustomed  to  taking 
French  wives,  who  brought  with  them  their  own  ret- 
inues of  monks  of  the  great  building  order  of  Cluny, 
these  erected  the  new  Spanish  churches  in  the  French 
Romanesque  style. 

Romanesque  was  not  conspicuous,  as  its  successor 
Gothic  became,  for  the  use  of  ironwork;  but,  happen- 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD  9 

ing  to  make  its  first  appearance  in  those  Spanish 
provinces,  the  Pyrenean  and  Cantabrian,  where  iron 
was  more  plentiful  and  wood  more  scarce  than  in 
France,  the  Cluniac  builders  learned  to  use  it  quite 
freely  as  an  accessory  in  their  Romanesque  edifices. 
One  of  the  first  demands  they  made  on  the  Spanish 
smith  was  for  a  reja,1  or  screen,  to  protect  the  treasures 
of  the  altar.  Tracing  the  history  of  the  screen  we  find 
that  metal  ones  of  simple  design  were  made  by  the 
Romans.  Several  later  examples  have  been  found  in 
sixth  and  seventh  century  Christian  basilicas;  but  those 
necessitated  to  protect  the  more  precious  offerings  and 
reliquaries  of  medieval  cathedrals  are  on  a  much  larger 
scale.  Their  motif  is  invariably  the  scroll  derived  from 
the  vine  which  had  been  so  highly  conventionalized  in 
Greek  and  Roman  art.  The  ease  with  which  a  bar  of 
iron  could  be  made  to  take  the  scroll  form  would,  in 
itself,  explain  why  this  preponderated  as  a  decorative 
motif  in  early  smithing;  the  very  anvil  was  made  to 
produce  scrolls,  for  it  was  shaped  to  a  peak  or  ridge 
over  which  the  red  hot  bar  could  be  bent  by  blows. 
When  other  methods  than  genuine  smithing  crept  in  — 
that  is,  when  the  metal  was  worked  cold  by  tools  for- 
merly associated  with  other  crafts  —  the  scroll  became 
a  much  less  frequent  element.  The  St.  Swithin  grille 
of  Winchester  Cathedral  in  England,  one  at  Le  Puy- 
en-Velay  in  France  and  several  in  Spain  show  in  what 
widely  separated  localities  this  type  was  popular  during 
the  Middle  Ages.  That  the  examples  mentioned  have 
remained  in  situ  during  all  these  centuries  is  due  not 
1  Pronounced  ray-hah. 


10         PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD 

only  to  their  size  and  durability  but  also  to  the  fact 
that  they  are  serving  their  original  purpose  of  protect- 
ing altars  still  open  to  the  cult.  One  of  the  best  known 
of  the  type  is  in  the  cathedral  cloister  in  Pamplona, 
the  capital  of  Navarre. 

The  little  Santa  Cruz  chapel  at  Pamplona  occupies 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  cloisters  in  such  a  way  that 
two  of  its  sides  are  masonry  and  two  are  open  to  the 
cloister.  Both  these  latter  are  protected  by  the  famous 
grille,  a  portion  of  which  is  shown  in  Figure  2.  In  the 
scrolls,  some  loosely  wound  and  others  wrapped  into  a 
dense  whorl,  there  is  infinite  variety;  likewise  in  the 
manner  of  strapping  the  scroll  units  back  to  back,  some 
being  augmented  by  short  strips  before  being  tied  in, 
others  connected  by  a  loose  filigree.  In  addition,  occa- 
sional leaf  forms  and  tendrils  are  seen  which  further 
prevent  the  scroll  from  becoming  monotonous  and  lend 
a  degree  of  interest  which  makes  the  Spanish  example 
superior  to  contemporaneous  French  or  English  ones. 
A  peculiarity  which  further  distinguishes  the  Pamplona 
work  is  that  the  scrolls  do  not  terminate  in  perfect 
rings,  but  stop  abruptly,  leaving  the  end  of  the  whorl 
without  any  decorative  finish  whatever.  The  lilia- 
ceous cresting  of  the  Pamplona  reja  is  of  later  date. 
Whether  its  scroll  pattern  was  borrowed  from  France 
or  England  would  be  difficult  to  say.  The  Pamplona 
grille,  though  not  dated,  is  supposed  to  have  been  made 
out  of  Moorish  tent  chains  captured  by  the  Navarrese 
in  1212,  and  may  therefor  be  ascribed  to  the  early 
thirteenth  century;  but  the  English  example  at  Win- 
chester dates  from  1093;  so  that  Spain,  while  she  may 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD         11 

not  have  imported  the  design,  cannot  claim  to  have 
been  the  first  to  use  it. 

At  Palencia,  in  the  cathedral,  there  is  the  so-called 
Reja  Arabe  de  la  Capilla  del  Sagrario  (Figure  3).  It 
is  a  beautiful  example,  similar  to  the  Pamplona,  but 
less  nai've.  Its  various  scrolls  are  more  like  each  other 
in  size  and  treatment,  indicating  a  later  date.  The 
frame  to  which  these  scrolls  were  originally  riveted 
having  deteriorated,  is  now  replaced  by  stout  wood. 
This  same  sort  of  Romanesque  grille  may  be  found  in 
Leon.  Here,  however,  it  is  acting  as  a  window  screen 
on  the  fagade  of  Nuestra  Senora  del  Mercado  (Figure 
4).  This  little  example  is  only  thirty  inches  wide  and 
four  feet,  six  inches  high.  Vertically  the  design  is  di- 
vided into  three  panels,  with  the  scrolls  worked  into 
such  a  number  of  whorls  that  the  pattern  becomes 
very  dense,  not  unlike  Venetian  point  lace.  An  inter- 
esting detail  here  is  the  little  tendrils  which  spring 
from  between  the  scrolls.  This  grille  may  be  placed, 
judging  from  the  symmetry  of  the  pattern,  at  the  end 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  San  Vicente  in  Avila,  a 
Romanesque  church  commenced  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, also  possesses  a  bit  of  this  work  and  undoubtedly 
many  more  once  existed  than  are  here  mentioned,  but 
they  have  disintegrated  or  been  broken  up. 

Of  small  iron  objects  belonging  to  this  period  not 
many  have  survived,  and  these  can  be  found  only  in 
collections.  The  richest  collection  open  to  the  public 
is  that  of  the  Episcopal  Museum  of  Vich,  a  town  in 
northern  Catalonia.  Vich  Museum  owes  its  existence 
to  a  recent  art-loving  bishop  who,  noting  with  regret 


12         PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD 

that  all  too  many  of  Spain's  treasures  were  being  sold 
to  foreigners,  scoured  his  province  to  save  what  he 
could.  His  search  resulted  in  the  assembling,  at  Vich, 
of  a  remarkable  display  of  Catalonian  painting,  sculp- 
ture, embroidery,  and  ironwork,  a  fair  amount  of  the 
last-named  dating  from  the  thirteenth  century.  A  few 
pieces  are  illustrated  later  in  this  book. 

MOORISH   INFLUENCE 

While  the  forged  ironwork  already  referred  to  was 
being  produced  north  of  the  Ebro,  that  produced  in 
Castile  and  Andalucia  was  affected  by  the  presence  of 
Moorish  artizans  working  in  other  metals.  In  fact,  of 
all  foreign  influences,  the  Arab  taste  played  the  most 
important  part.  The  Saracens,  when  they  crossed 
from  Africa  into  Spain,  brought  with  them  no  truly 
structural  architecture  nor  did  they  subsequently  create 
one.  They  were,  and  ever  remained,  supreme  ornamen- 
talists,  and  in  this  direction  their  ingenuity  was  un- 
bounded. Of  their  ornament  may  be  said  that  which 
is  not  true  of  their  architecture  —  that  it  was  struc- 
tural. It  differed  from  the  usual  Asiatic  conception  in 
that  it  was  not  made  up  of  graceful  natural  forms  but 
of  logically  combined  geometric  patterns.  That  this 
Moorish  taste  persisted  even  after  the  Reconquest  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Spaniard,  recognizing  the 
superior  craftsmanship  of  the  Moor,  employed  him  side 
by  side  with  the  Spanish  artizans  whenever  Christian 
buildings  were  to  be  erected.  Each  may  have  learned 
from  the  other,  though  unquestionably  it  was  the 
Moor  who  had  most  to  teach.  By  degrees  Moorish 


FIG.  10.     COPPER-PLATED   DOORS. 

Puerta  del  Perdon,  Mosque  of  Cordova.    1377. 


FIG.  11. 

DETAILS  OF   PANELING 
AND   KNOCKER. 

Puerta  del  Perdon. 


FIG.  12. 

BRONZE-MOUNTED    DOORS. 

From  Sevilla  Cathedral,  now  in  the 

Museo  Nacional,  Madrid. 

Late  XIV  Century. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC  PERIOD        13 

and  Gothic  art  were  blended  into  what  is  called  Mude- 
jar,  and  as  geometric  forms  were  the  basis  of  each,  the 
result  was  particularly  harmonious.  Neither  in  archi- 
tecture nor  in  ornament  could  Mudejar  be  called  a  new 
style;  it  is  simply  a  curiously  happy  application  of 
elements  ordinarily  incongruous  to  whatever  style  of 
structure  happened  to  be  in  progress. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  Spain  was  the  only 
European  country  to  receive  Oriental  influences  in  art. 
Italy,  France  and  England  were  also  affected;  but  the 
difference  is  that  to  them  the  new  ideas  came  less 
directly,  their  princes  having  definitely  set  about  modi- 
fying the  rude  European  civilization  by  cultivating  the 
Eastern  refinement  they  had  seen  during  the  Crusades. 
Saracenic  art  and  architecture,  answering  this  demand, 
penetrated  into  Western  Europe  by  following  the  trade 
routes,  principally  that  of  Venice  whence  it  passed 
into  other  states.  In  Venice  itself  may  be  found  the 
earliest  decorative  ironwork  in  Italy  —  a  few  grilles 
copying  the  pierced  marble  screens  used  so  extensively 
in  Saracenic  architecture.  Spain,  however,  did  not 
have  to  get  her  Eastern  art  in  this  roundabout  way. 
The  Saracen  was  there,  on  her  soil,  and  as  he  was 
a  cunning  craftsman,  and  as  the  Spaniard  himself 
had  no  liking  for  the  humbler  callings,  the  matter  of 
erecting  and  ornamenting  buildings  was  left  largely 
in  the  hands  of  the  Moors. 

When,  occasionally,  the  Arab  used  iron  it  was  worked 
as  were  the  more  precious  metals,  with  file  and  saw, 
vice  and  drill,  instead  of  being  subjected  only  to  the 
powerful  blows  of  the  smith's  hammer;  in  other  words, 


14         PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD 

the  Moor  had  no  conception  of  pure  smithing,  for  which 
reason  an  early  piece  of  Castilian  or  Andalucian  iron- 
work would  be  easily  distinguishable  from  a  contem- 
poraneous piece  wrought  in  Catalonia  or  Navarre. 
Iron  was  never  really  popular,  however,  until  its  use 
as  a  decorative  architectural  feature  spread  from  Eng- 
land and  France  down  into  Spain,  creating  great  de- 
mand even  among  the  Moors  for  this  hitherto  neglected 
metal.  Spain,  indeed,  carried  its  use  farther  than  did 
the  countries  north  of  the  Pyrenees.  Door  hardware, 
with  the  exception  of  the  strap  hinge,  developed  to 
a  point  undreamed  of  elsewhere;  knockers,  escutch- 
eons, bosses  being  infinitely  more  plentiful.  Hardly  a 
window  in  the  land  but  had  an  iron  grille  or  reja,  for 
window  screening,  universal  with  the  Moors,  had  been 
copied  from  them  by  the  Spaniards.  When  furniture 
came  into  general  use  (early  Spanish  houses  were  as 
devoid  of  chairs  and  tables  as  Moorish  homes  were) 
iron  was  often  used  as  a  diagonal  brace  between  vertical 
supports,  and  even  entire  chairs,  tables,  etc.,  were  made 
of  it.  When  in  due  time  the  balcony  began  to  be  an 
architectural  feature  it  was  upheld  by  a  row  of  inter- 
esting scroll  brackets.  In  the  churches,  candelabra 
became  massive  and  imposing,  railings  or  screens 
(verjas)  surrounded  tombs,  chapel  rejas  grew  to  be  of 
towering  height,  and  even  entire  pulpits  were  beaten 
out  of  iron.  Much  of  this  work  is  Mudejar. 

ORNAMENTAL  NAILHEADS 

One  of  the  most  familiar  Moorish  inheritances,  al- 
though a  minor  one,  is  the  decorative  nailhead,  known 


FIG.  13.     IRON-PLATED   DOORS. 
Main  Portal  of  Tarragona  Cathedral.    1510. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC  PERIOD 


15 


as  a  chaton.  Introduced  by  the  Moors,  it  persisted 
down  to  Spain's  last  decorative  moment,  and  instantly 
marks  any  object  bearing  it  as  Spanish.  The  first 
examples  found  are  solid,  slightly  accentuated  heads  of 
otherwise  ordinary  nails  which  are  part  of  door  con- 
struction. Two  such  nails  from  a  door  in  the  Alhambra 
are  shown  in  Figure  5,  and  two  others  from  a  Spanish 
building  in  Figure  6.  In  the  making  of  rejas  the  head 


FIG.  5.    IRON  NAILS  WITH 

WROUGHT  HEADS. 

Moorish.    XIV  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  4  and  5  in.    Nos.  13, 14. 


FIG. 6.    IRON  NAILS  WITH 

WROUGHT  HEADS. 

Spanish.    XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  5  and  7  in.    Nos.  27, 28. 


of  a  rivet  was  similarly  treated.  As  the  nail  grew  in  size 
and  ornamentation,  to  hammer  it  into  place  became 
difficult  and  the  head  was  therefore  made  separately 
(Figure  7)  while  the  nail,  often  of  great  size,  was  driven 
through  afterwards.  In  many  of  the  largest,  however, 


16         PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD 

the  nail  or  stem  remained  an  integral  part  of  the 
decorative  head  and  was  split  and  passed  through  a 
hole  bored  in  the  door,  and  then  spread  on  the  inside. 
Once  the  nailhead  became  a  separate  unit,  there  was 
no  limit  to  the  freshness  of  fancy  shown  in  its  making; 
sometimes  it  was  convex,  sometimes  flat;  slashed 
towards  the  center  and  with  scalloped  edges;  or  the 
center  sunk  into  a  hollow  to  receive  the  nail,  while  the 
remaining  portion  was  beaten  out  from  the  back  into 
a  large  bosse.  These  various  results  arrived  at  while 
the  metal  was  hot,  further  enrichment  such  as  chasing 
and  piercing  was  added  when  it  became  cold.  In  short, 
the  nailhead  or  bosse  soon  outgrew  its  original  utili- 
tarian function  and  became  primarily  ornamental.  It 
is  seen  employed  singly  over  an  entire  door  surface  or 
in  groups  of  three,  five  or  seven.  Applied  thus  it  made 
a  metal  door  decoration  vastly  different  to  the  strap 
hinges  used  elsewhere  in  Europe.  It  is  sometimes 
stated  that  the  Visigoths  of  Toledo  also  used  bosses 
—  an  erroneous  impression  derived  from  the  number 
of  late  Mudejar  palace  entrances  in  that  city  recon- 
structed out  of  Visigothic  stone  fragments;  the  actual 
wooden  doors,  however,  are  invariably  remnants  of 
the  Moorish  or  even  of  the  Reconquest  period,  and 
were  made  for  Christian  masters  by  Moorish  work- 
men. Two  late  doors  are  illustrated  (Figures  8  and  9), 
one  from  Toledo  and  the  other  from  Avila,  which 
give  an  excellent  idea  of  the  Spanish  preference  for 
these  bosses.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  many  of 
those  on  the  Toledo  example  have  recently  been  sold 
separately  to  tourists. 


FIG.  14.    CLOISTER   REJAS. 
Barcelona  Cathedral.     Early  XIV  Century. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD         17 

MUDEJAR  METAL  DOORS 

Returning  to  general  Moorish  ironwork,  not  enough 
smaller  objects  remain  to  dwell  upon;  but  certain 
bronze  and  copper  doors  may  be  described  here  since 
they  served  as  prototypes  for  later  iron-plated  ones. 
In  the  Mosque  of  Cordova,  still  in  their  original  posi- 
tion, are  the  great  copper-plated  doors  of  the  Puerta 
del  Perdon  (Figures  10  and  11).  They  were  made  by 
Moors,  but  after  the  Reconquest;  and  as  the  date 
(1377),  Gothic  inscriptions,  and  saints  all  prove,  were 
ordered  by  Christians.  The  patterning  here  —  typical 
Saracenic  geometric  patterning  —  has  been  cut  from 
sheet  metal  and  superimposed  upon  another  sheet  or 
background,  a  form  of  decoration  to  be  met  later  in 
Gothic  ironwork.  The  copper  knockers,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  not  of  sheet  metal,  but  of  solid  copper  appar- 
ently worked  in  the  mass  as  iron  would  have  been.  In 
design  these  recall  the  Byzantine  stone  screens  seen  in 
Venice  and  Ravenna;  but  the  bronze  paneling  of  the 
doors  is  distinctly  Saracenic.  Figure  12  illustrates  a 
pair  of  bronze  mounted  wooden  doors  now  in  the 
Museo-Nacional  of  Madrid.  Here  the  decoration  is 
entirely  Moorish,  but  the  doors,  as  the  Gothic  lettering 
shows,  were  destined  for  Christian  use  and  long  served 
for  the  Sacristy  of  the  High  Altar  of  Sevilla  Cathedral. 
The  all-over  patterning  is  incised  in  the  wood,  the  star 
being  the  foundation  of  the  scheme.  Across  the  top, 
bottom,  and  center  of  the  doors  broad  metal  bands  are 
riveted.  These  are  worked  into  an  interesting  circular 
pattern  in  low  relief,  and  are  held  down  by  large  and 


18         PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD 

small  ornamental  nailheads  arranged  to  accommodate 
the  design.  The  bronze  knocker  with  a  star-shaped 
backplate  and  each  point  of  the  star  finished  off  in  a 
knob,  may  have  inspired  the  maker  of  Figure  59, 
which  is  in  iron.  Bolts  like  that  of  the  Madrid  bronze 
example  are  found  on  many  later  doors  and  grilles. 

Of  iron-covered  doors,  one  of  the  earliest  pieces, 
standing,  as  the  English  architect  George  Street  de- 
scribes it  "in  a  monumental  recess  of  completely 
Moorish  character,"  is  in  the  cloister  of  Tarragona 
Cathedral.  It  may  be  classed  as  thirteenth  century 
work  and  is  of  wood  once  completely  covered  by  iron 
plates  which  were  stamped  and  gilded  and  fastened 
down  with  copper  nails.  Later  by  nearly  three  cen- 
turies, but  still  designed  in  the  Moorish  taste,  are  the 
colossal,  iron-plated  main  doors  of  the  famous  west 
facade  of  this  same  cathedral  (Figure  13).  These  were 
presented  to  the  chapter  in  1510  by  Archbishop  Gonzalo 
de  Heredia.  Their  enormous  height  is  apparent  on 
comparing  them  with  the  children  playing  at  their  base. 
These  doors  are  of  wood  covered  by  many  diapered  iron 
plates  fastened  down  with  copper  nails,  and  with  a  cop- 
per rosette  in  the  center  of  each  plate.  Hinges  and 
knockers  are  most  elaborate  in  design.  In  the  back 
plates  of  the  knockers  and  in  the  huge  hinges  at  the 
top  a  very  decorative  result  is  obtained  by  successive 
thicknesses  of  pierced  tracery,  a  Moorish  idea  already 
illustrated  in  Figure  12.  Indeed,  the  whole  scheme 
with  its  flat  patterning  broken  up  only  by  the  shadow 
of  the  knockers,  is  thoroughly  Oriental.  Of  these  last 
adjuncts,  the  upper  and  more  elaborate  is  obviously 


FIG.  15.     REJA  OF  A  CLOISTER  CHAPEL. 
Barcelona  Cathedral. 


PREVIOUS  TO  THE  GOTHIC   PERIOD         19 

too  high  for  the  human  arm  and  was  undoubtedly 
applied  merely  as  a  matter  of  tradition.  Other  notable 
doors  are  in  the  west  portal  of  Santa  Maria  del  Mar 
at  Barcelona  and  in  the  main  portal  of  Huesca  Cathe- 
dral. The  former  are  covered  with  iron  plates  cut  to 
a  pattern,  and  the  latter  with  beaten  iron  which  is 
fastened  down  with  nails  whose  heads  appear  to  be 
brass. 


II 

GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 
EARLY  CHAPEL  REJAS 

IN  the  thirteenth  century  King  Fernando  III  (El 
Santo)  introduced  French  Gothic  by  ordering  the 
magnificent  cathedrals  of  Burgos,  Toledo,  and  Leon 
to  be  built.  Catalonia,  though  remote  from  these  cen- 
ters, was  not  slow  to  adopt  the  new  style  and  developed 
under  native  architects  many  features  that  differen- 
tiated it  from  the  parent  stock.  Such,  for  instance, 
were  the  wide  naves  and  widely  spaced  piers  of  Gerona, 
Manresa,  and  Barcelona  cathedrals.  Of  these  dis- 
tinctive edifices  Barcelona  is  richest  in  ironwork  and 
this  of  a  sufficiently  original  character  to  be  considered 
entirely  as  a  Spanish  product. 

As  the  new  style  of  architecture  demanded  a  much 
more  plentiful  use  of  iron  accessories  than  Romanesque 
had,  great  impetus  was  given  to  the  smith's  art.  The 
response  was  at  first  all  in  the  field  of  genuine  black- 
smithing  quite  unaffected  by  Moorish  methods  which 
did  not  appear  north  of  the  Ebro  until  later.  By  the 
fourteenth  century  the  smiths'  guilds  had  grown  very 
important  in  Pamplona,  Barcelona  and  other  towns. 
The  most  important  Gothic  product  was,  as  in  Roman- 
esque days,  the  reja,  but  it  was  of  an  entirely  new 
design  in  which  scrolls  played  no  part;  for  the  rejeros 
(reja-makers)  decided  that  a  number  of  spaced  ver- 


FIG.  16.     REJA  OF  A  CLOISTER  CHAPEL. 

Barcelona  Cathedral. 


LU 

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GOTHIC   REJAS  AND   PULPITS  21 

tical  bars,  strengthened  top  and  bottom  and  at  some 
intermediate  point  by  horizontals,  would  answer  their 
purpose  better  than  the  all-over  scroll  pattern.  That 
is,  upright  bars,  by  allowing  no  convenient  horizontal 
footholds,  would  afford  more  protection  to  the  sacred 
treasures  in  the  chapel  and  at  the  same  time  render 
them  more  visible  to  worshippers.  The  increased 
openness  of  the  new  design  is  instantly  apparent;  like- 
wise its  increased  architectonic  quality,  for  its  assertive 
verticality  made  it  a  most  harmonious  accessory  to  the 
dominating  lines  of  Gothic  architecture.  The  bar  type 
therefor  became  the  accepted  convention  in  Spain,  and 
was  developed  to  a  point  undreamed  of  in  other  coun- 
tries. The  only  thing  of  the  kind  in  France  is  a  simple 
and  not  very  high  grille  in  the  church  of  St.  Sernin  in 
Toulouse;  but  this,  according  to  Viollet-le-Duc,  was 
made  at  least  fifty  years  later  than  the  earliest  Barce- 
lona example.  Besides  the  greater  loftiness  of  the 
Barcelona  work,  there  is  a  structural  peculiarity  im- 
portant to  note  as  opposed  to  the  French  example  in 
Toulouse;  namely,  that  in  early  Gothic  Spain  an  over- 
whelming partiality  was  shown  for  the  round  instead 
of  the  square  bar;  and  that  when  the  square  bar  was 
later  accepted,  it  was  invariably  placed  on  the  diagonal 
so  that  instead  of  one,  two  of  its  faces  were  visible. 
Indeed,  in  even  the  earliest  Spanish  rejas,  many  fea- 
tures may  be  met  that  already  indicate  the  admirable 
originality  and  grandeur  of  those  sixteenth  century 
examples  which  have  made  the  Spanish  rejero  so  re- 
nowned. 
Than  the  Barcelona  cloisters,  now  a  charming  public 


22  GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

thoroughfare,  no  one  spot  in  Spain  offers  a  more  favor- 
able opportunity  for  studying  the  round-bar  reja.  A 
succession  of  twenty  chapels  borders  three  sides  of  the 
enclosure,  each  chapel  screened  off  by  a  reja.  These 
examples,  though  of  varying  heights,  harmonize  so 
well  with  each  other  and  with  their  surroundings,  that 
one  might  suspect  their  design  of  having  been  con- 
trolled by  the  architect  of  the  cathedral.  However, 
at  this  period  the  blacksmith  was  so  highly  important 
that  it  is  safe  to  say  that  he  needed  no  such  control. 
This  ensemble  of  ironwork  may  be  considered  the 
finest  of  its  period  in  Europe. 

The  bar  type  naturally  precluded  ornamentation 
from  the  body  of  the  reja,  and  left  it  for  the  cresting, 
the  gates,  and  the  lock.  In  certain  of  the  Barcelona 
group  (Figure  14)  the  actual  gate  or  entrance  to  the 
chapel  can  hardly  be  detected;  in  others  it  is  decidedly 
accentuated  by  means  of  Gothic  arches  ornamented 
by  crocketed  pinnacles.  Where  the  entire  door  is 
framed  in  Gothic  forms,  these  are  set  well  forward  of 
the  bars,  or  else  applied  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  inter- 
fere with  the  general  structurability  of  the  design 
(Figures  15  and  16),  a  rule  violated  with  less  pleasing 
results  in  later  days.  Horizontals  are  sparingly  used, 
and  toward  the  top  only,  the  lower  ends  of  the  bars 
being  embedded  in  the  stone  base  and  not  further 
braced  by  a  cross  member.  On  the  horizontal  bar  at 
each  interval  where  the  vertical  round  bar  is  threaded 
through,  may  be  seen  a  bulge;  the  early  smith  after 
making  the  hole  with  his  crude  tools  never  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  remove  this  evidence  of  the  operation,  or  else 


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GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 


23 


had  no  tools  adequate.  It  is  just  such  interesting 
touches  that  one  misses  in  later  and  more  sophisti- 
cated work.  In  even  the  severest  Barcelona  rejas 
there  is  a  decorative  termination  above,  too  rudiment- 
ary perhaps  to  be  called  a  cresting  since  it  consists  of 
nothing  more  than  finishing  every  third  or  fourth  rod 
with  a  foliated  picket.  In  others,  however,  the  ter- 
mination is  really  imposing  —  a  row  of  tall  liliaceous 
forms  curled  and  twisted  together.  Beneath  this  may 


FIG.  17.    DETAIL  OF  REJA  LOCK. 
Cloister  Chapel,  Barcelona  Cathedral. 

be  seen  sometimes  a  broad  ornamental  band,  some- 
times a  row  of  cusped  arches  set  forward  of  the  gen- 
eral plane  (Figure  16). 

Pamplona,  the  capital  of  Navarre,  has  been  men- 
tioned as  another  great  ironworking  center  of  Roman- 
esque and  Gothic  days.  However,  between  its  scroll- 
shaped  example  of  the  thirteenth  century  and  its 


24  GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

several  bar  type  examples,  there  is  a  long  interval,  for 
the  last  mentioned  are  later  than  the  Barcelona  work 
just  described.  The  capilla  mayor  (high  altar)  reja  is 
the  best  known  of  the  Pamplona  group.  Its  body  is 
composed  of  alternating  plain  and  twisted  square  ver- 
ticals—  an  arrangement  that  remained  popular  in 
Spain  till  the  end  of  its  ironwork  life.  The  bars  are 
set  close  together  and  are  devoid  of  all  ornament,  but, 
as  George  Street  says  in  his  Gothic  Architecture  in 
Spain,  "What  the  lower  part  lacks  in  ornament  the 
cresting  more  than  atones  for;  it  is  unusually  rich, 
consisting  of  interlacing  ogee  arches  with  crocketed 


FIG.  18.    REJA,  CAPILLA  DE  NUESTRA  SENORA  DE  LAS 

ANGUSTIAS. 
Church  of  San  Pablo,  Palencia.    Early  XV  Century. 


FIG.  25.    SPLIT   BAR  MOTIF. 
Reja  of  the  Royal  Chapel,  Granada.    1518-23. 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS  25 

pinnacles  between  them,  all  very  elaborately  ham- 
mered up.  The  horizontal  bars  and  rails  are  also 
covered  with  traceries  in  relief  and  at  regular  inter- 
vals on  these  are  small  figures  under  canopies.  The 
whole  stands  upon  a  moulded  and  paneled  base  of 
stone.  The  total  height  of  this  screen  is  not  less  than 
thirty  feet,  of  which  the  cresting  is  about  a  third." 
This  appearance  of  extensive  figure  work  in  iron  mod- 
eled entirely  out  of  the  solid  is  interesting  to  note  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  it  was  later  developed  to  an 
amazing  point  of  skill. 

In  Palencia,  another  town  which  contributed  much 
to  early  ironwork,  is  the  Gothic  reja  of  the  Capilla  de 
Nuestra  Senora  de  las  Angustias  in  the  church  of  San 
Pablo  (Figure  18).  Dating  from  the  early  fifteenth 
century  it  is  of  simple  design,  with  rather  thin  bars 
set  far  apart,  as  in  much  early  work.  Over  the  whole 
there  is  a  tentative  cresting  composed  of  interlaced 
twisted  rods  in  the  form  of  pointed  arches.  This  reja 
is  so  ingeniously  wrought  and  of  such  an  interesting 
period  that  its  present  state  of  unrepair  is  particularly 
lamentable.  The  little  blazon  and  the  amorini  in  the 
center  were  added  in  Renaissance  days. 

WINDOW   REJAS 

Most  ubiquitous,  possibly  of  all  iron  architectural 
accessories  in  Spain  is  the  window  reja.  Brought  over 
by  the  Moors  it  is  still  much  in  evidence  in  old  Moor- 
ish cities  like  Toledo,  Granada,  Sevilla,  etc.  The  fol- 
lowing passage  from  the  ordinances  of  Granada  for  the 
year  1522  may  serve  to  show  how  numerous  were  rejas 


26  GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

in  that  recently  acquired  Moorish  city.  "Whereas  we 
have  witnessed  and  do  witness  daily  numerous  mis- 
haps to  wayfarers  alike  on  horseback  and  on  foot 
whether  by  day  or  by  night  because  the  highways, 
narrow  in  themselves,  are  rendered  yet  more  narrow 
by  projecting  rejas,  fixed  in  basements  and  lower 
rooms  of  houses;  and  whereas  in  winter  people  seek- 
ing to  escape  the  filth  by  keeping  to  the  wall  are 
thwarted,  or  at  night  injured,  it  is  ordered  that  no 
rejas  be  set  within  three  yards  of  the  ground  or  else 
that  they  be  set  within  the  wall."  In  the  ancient 
Castilian  city  of  Toro,  which  was  much  earlier  wrested 
from  the  Moors,  hardly  a  handful  of  people  have  lived 
for  centuries  past  and  the  city  fathers  have  received 
no  complaints  from  injured  pedestrians;  therefore  there 
may  still  be  seen  a  number  of  rejas  sweeping  the  very 
ground  and  projecting  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  facades. 

Even  where  security  would  not  have  demanded  a 
grating,  the  window  was  barred  apparently  through 
sheer  love  of  the  custom,  though  the  Spaniard  insists 
that  the  iron  takes  up  the  sun's  heat  and  thus  keeps 
it  from  entering  the  room.  The  original  eastern  screen 
was  of  wood  or  reed  in  a  sort  of  basket  or  lattice  weave, 
usually  on  the  diagonal.  At  first  there  was  some  at- 
tempt to  reproduce  this  in  iron  by  means  of  strips 
interlaced  or  else  riveted  together  at  every  intersec- 
tion; but  the  smith  soon  abandoned  this  idea  for  the 
greater  architectural  possibilities  of  the  vertical  bar. 
One  very  close  reproduction  of  a  wooden  lattice  may 
still  be  seen  in  Toledo  on  an  ancient  palace  near  the 


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GOTHIC   REJAS  AND   PULPITS  27 

Alcdzar.  It  is  eight  feet  high,  projects  about  two  feet, 
and  is  divided  into  a  number  of  panels,  each  treated 
differently,  but  always  with  small  interstices  specially 
intended  to  screen  the  inmates  of  the  house  from  pub- 
lic gaze.  Of  the  diagonal  variety,  two  examples  from 
Salamanca  are  shown  (Figures  19  and  20).  These  are 
not  particularly  early,  both  being  on  noted  Renaissance 
edifices.  Their  construction  is  simplicity  itself,  all  the 
bars  of  one  direction  passing  through  their  opposites. 
In  one  case,  the  Archiepiscopal  Palace,  there  is  a  com- 
bination of  diagonals  with  vertical  bars  above;  in  the 
other,  the  Casa  de  las  Conchas,  rosettes  border  the 
entire  edge  of  the  reja.  For  windows  as  unpretentious 
as  these,  the  lattice  grille  is  unquestionably  of  more 
domestic  aspect  than  unadorned  vertical  bars  of 
heavier  section  which,  when  not  used  on  a  monu- 
mental scale,  savor  too  much  of  the  prison.  A  glance 
at  Figure  19,  where  one  type  occurs  above  the  other, 
will  justify  the  comparison.  The  cloisters  of  Toledo 
Cathedral  contain  an  earlier  example  of  diagonal  lattice 
work  made  probably  about  1400  (Figure  21).  This 
grille  stands  in  the  Puerta  del  Obispo  Tenorio.  Here 
the  diagonals  of  one  direction  are  square  in  section 
and  those  opposite  are  mere  flat  strips  split  to  receive 
them,  as  explained  by  Figure  23.  It  is  remarkable 
how  much  this  simple  scheme  enhances  the  interest 
of  the  work.  On  a  shield  above  the  Tenorio  grille 
is  a  charming  bit  of  decorative  iron  relief  apparently 
of  the  same  period.  Not  unlike  the  Toledo  example 
is  a  reja  on  the  Pedro  Davila  house  in  Avila  (Figure 
22).  This  reja  and  the  window  motif  it  is  attached 


28 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 


to  are  of  the  sixteenth  century,  much  later  than  the 
rest  of  the  palace. 

Far  more  important  than  the  lattice  window  grating 
is  that  made  of  typical  Gothic  bars  conceived  in  the 
same  spirit  as  the  monumental  church  reja.  Such 
window  treatments  frequently  afford,  along  with  the 
bossed  doors,  about  the  only  adornment  to  the  severe 
unpretentious  facade  of  a  Spanish  palace.  Their  as- 
pect, owing  to  the  ornamental  bar  used,  differs  con- 
siderably from  that  of  the  Barcelona  rejas  with  their 
plain  round  bars. 


FIG.  23. 


DETAIL  OF  INTERSECTIONS. 
WINDOW  REJA. 


LATTICE 


House  of  Pedro  Davila,  Avila.    XVI  Century. 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND    PULPITS  29 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  VERTICAL  BAR 

Perhaps  no  single  detail  of  Spanish  ironwork  under- 
went greater  decorative  expansion  than  the  bar.  As 
first  encountered  in  the  Romanesque  reja  of  Pamplona 
(Figure  2)  it  is  merely  a  flat  vertical  support  for  the 
scroll  units  which  form  the  real  body  of  the  composi- 
tion. Next,  in  the  early  Gothic  examples  from  Barce- 
lona the  bar  itself  is  the  unit  from  which  the  whole  work 
is  built  up.  This  bar  is  round,  about  one  inch  in 
diameter,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  high.  Though 
severely  plain,  its  making  was  a  far  more  difficult  task 
than  the  making  of  any  ornamental  motif  in  iron  save 
the  human  figure.  To  work  crude  ingots  into  long 
attenuated  and  absolutely  straight  bars,  round  or 
square,  was  no  mere  apprentice's  task;  and  indeed, 
considering  that  the  appliances  at  the  smith's  disposal 
were  very  limited,  the  fashioning  of  such  massive,  well- 
finished,  unwieldy  rods  must  have  been  as  expensive 
as  it  was  difficult.  A  multiplicity  of  blows  was  neces- 
sary in  the  process,  and  the  imprints  of  the  smith's 
big  square-headed  hammer  are  still  discernible  (Figure 
17).  (Such  a  surface  is  particularly  eloquent  in  con- 
trast to  that  produced  by  modern  over- perfected 
methods,  and  which  smiths  work  over  by  hand  in  a 
vain  attempt  to  catch  some  of  the  old  charm.)  When, 
later,  the  rectangular  bar  prevailed,  its  making  was 
even  more  difficult  for  it  added  the  new  problem  of 
keeping  true  angles.  In  both  cases  the  smith  acquitted 
himself  well;  then,  having  creditably  mastered  the 
severely  plain  form,  he  sought  for  some  ornamental 


30  GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

treatment  that  would  enhance  its  interest  without 
diminishing  its  strength.  For  this  purpose  the  square 
vertical  was  better  adapted  than  the  round.  It  was 
first  subjected  while  hot  to  a  uniform  torsion  which, 
preserving  the  original  arrises,  resulted  in  a  pleasing 


FIG.  24.    SPLIT  BAR  REJA. 
Patio  of  the  Count  of  Toledo's  House,  Toledo. 

variation.  Twisted  throughout  its  entire  length,  it 
generally  alternated  with  plain  bars  as  in  several 
Sigiienza  examples  (Figures  31  and  32);  but  just  as 
often,  it  was  twisted  for  only  a  short  distance  and 
then  left  untreated,  which  may  also  be  seen  at  Sigii- 
enza. For  further  enrichment,  but  this  not  until  Re- 
naissance days,  the  bar  was  sometimes  incised  with  a 


u 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 


31 


simple  leaf  pattern  before  being  twisted,  as  in  the 
Royal  Chapel  Reja  of  Granada  (Figure  25);  or  its 
sides  were  beaten  into  a  concavity  in  order  to  leave 
sharper  arrises,  as  in  the  coro  reja  of  Sevilla  Cathedral 
(Figure  106);  or,  as  in  the  same  instance,  a  groove 
was  cut  in  each  side  or  a  bead  beaten  up  along  its  full 
length,  all  of  which  added  great  richness  to  the  twist. 
Meanwhile  the  smith  had  discovered  another  varia- 
tion that  would  lend  patterning  not  merely  to  the  bar 
itself  but  to  the  body  of  the  reja  as  well.  This  was  to 
split  it  at  certain  points  and  open  it  out  into  heart, 
lozenge,  or  trefoil  outlines  which  he  brought  together 
again  and  welded  back  into  a  continuation  of  the 


TOLE.DO 


GRANADA        JEV1UA 


FIG.  26.    TYPICAL    PATTERNING    INTO    WHICH    BARS 
WERE  OPENED. 


32  GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

original  rectangular  rod  (Figure  26).  This  idea  of  split- 
ting the  bars  to  create  a  band  of  patterning  across  the 
whole  composition  was  carried  to  its  ultimate  point 
in  the  reja  of  the  Royal  Chapel  at  Granada  (Figure 
25).  When  nothing  more  could  be  devised  to  add 
interest  to  the  rectangular  bar,  attention  returned  to 
the  round,  which  was  made  into  the  Renaissance  form 
known  as  the  spindle,  of  which  a  fine  specimen  is  in 
the  Hispanic  Society's  collection,  No.  165.  For  con- 
verting the  spindle  into  a  long,  slender  iron  bar,  Spain 
alone  deserves  the  credit,  since  the  only  part  it  played 
in  the  Italian  Renaissance  was  that  of  the  stunted 
stone  baluster  which  succeeded  the  carved  or  perfo- 
rated parapet  of  Gothic  balconies  and  staircases.  The 
Spanish  rejero  on  deciding  to  make  the  spindle  out  of 
iron  used  it  timidly  at  first;  but  having  soon  sur- 
mounted the  many  difficulties  it  presented,  as  he  had 
surmounted  every  other  difficulty  in  ironwork,  he 
began  to  turn  out  spindles  by  the  thousands.  The 
amazing  skill  attained  in  this  new  form  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  the  Renaissance  chapter. 

GOTICO-FLORIDO   REJAS 

The  rejas  to  be  taken  up  in  the  following  pages 
belong  to  the  Gotico-florido  period,  a  very  distinct 
and  original  phase  in  Spanish  architecture.  At  a  time 
when  other  nations  were  turning  their  attention  to 
adopting  the  classic,  Spain  was  accepting  it  but  spar- 
ingly, and  still  clung  to  old  Gothic  traditions;  thus  in 
ironwork  of  the  late  fifteenth  century  Renaissance 
motifs  were  merely  intermingled  with  earlier  ones,  but 


FIG.  33.     RUBBBING  OF  UNDER   PLATE  OF 
TRACERY   BAND. 


FIG.  34.     RUBBING  OF  UPPER   PLATE  OF 
TRACERY   BAND. 


FIG.  35.    THE  TWO  PLATES   RIVETED  TOGETHER. 

Middle  XV  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  16X  in.,  width  5J^  in.        No.  147. 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS  33 

this  in  a  way  both  picturesque  and  constructive; 
which  cannot  always  be  said  of  the  stonework  of  the 
period,  for  here  structurability  was  frequently  lost 
sight  of.  Many  Gotico-florido  rejas,  if  judged  away 
from  their  surroundings,  might  be  pronounced  too 
lavish;  but  in  truth  they  are  more  reasonable  than 
the  florid,  unstructural,  carved  stone  framing  them. 
Indeed,  all  through  this  transition  in  styles  it  is  very 
evident  that  the  ironworkers  had  a  better  hold  on 
themselves  than  the  architects,  who,  while  being  weaned 
away  by  the  approaching  Renaissance,  merely  toyed 
with  the  departing  Gothic.  The  smith  handled  the 
transition  better  and  was  more  alive  to  its  opportuni- 
ties. Whatever  he  caught  from  the  approaching  style, 
no  matter  how  fanciful,  he  treated  in  sincerest  Gothic 
manner  and  thus  tied  it  in  with  the  technique  of  the 
older  work.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  survival  of 
this  period  is  that  surrounding  the  Anaya  tomb  in 
Salamanca  (Figure  29).  Similar  unrestraint  in  stone- 
work would  be  weak;  in  iron  it  is  a  veritable  tour  de 
force  and  would  be  valuable  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  it  exhibits  the  unlimited  possibilities  of  the 
metal. 

Two  of  the  most  magnificent  and  best  known  Gotico- 
florido  window  rejas  are  also  in  Salamanca  on  the  Casa 
de  las  Conchas,  or  House  of  the  Shells,  (Figures  27  and 
28).  The  palace  itself,  however,  is  Renaissance  and 
dates  from  1512,  offering  one  of  many  instances  where 
the  smith  remained  a  Gothicist  after  the  architect  had 
accepted  "the  Italian  taste."  The  two  Casa  Conchas 
designs  are  quite  different  from  each  other,  for  the  old- 


34  GOTHIC   REJAS  AND   PULPITS 

time  rejero  never  bound  himself  to  conformity.  One 
is  rectangular,  projects  some  fifteen  inches  from  the 
wall,  and  is  divided  into  three  panels  on  its  face.  The 
twisted  bar  alternates  with  the  plain,  and  all  pass  up 
behind  the  floriated  arches  and  the  lettered  band.  The 
castle  of  Castile  is  used  to  terminate  the  four  main 
verticals,  while  the  shell,  indicating  that  the  owner  had 
made  the  holy  pilgrimage  to  Santiago  de  Compostela, 
is  used  freely.  Further  indication  of  the  owner's 
piety  is  found  in  the  use  of  the  "  Ave  Maria"  in  quaintly 
pierced  iron  letters,  by  way  of  an  ornamental  cross  band. 
The  other  "Shell  House"  reja  is  the  more  striking  of  the 
two  and  is  composed  of  three  units,  each  a  full  semi- 
circle in  plan,  and  separated  by  several  vertical  bars. 
Both  the  tops  and  bottoms  of  these  units  are  brought 
to  an  apex.  With  the  exception  of  the  inscription,  the 
motifs  of  the  ornament — turrets,  shells  and  leaf  tracery 
—  are  the  same  in  both  examples.  In  the  patio  of 
this  same  palace  are  other  excellent  grilles,  but  less 
magnificent  than  those  of  the  fagade. 

A  much  plainer  window  reja,  but  of  a  sort  whose 
popularity  lasted  even  during  the  Renaissance,  is 
shown  in  Figure  24.  This  faces  on  the  patio  of  the 
Count  of  Toledo's  home  in  Toledo,  and  is  charmingly 
framed  by  glazed  Moorish  tiles.  With  such  setting 
the  ironwork  needs  but  little  ornamentation  and  this 
is  supplied  by  the  splitting  of  every  other  bar  into  an 
unusual  sort  of  quatrefoil,  and  surmounting  the  whole 
by  a  band  of  leaf  tracery  and  an  armorial  crest.  In 
addition  to  being  opened  out  into  a  pattern,  the  ver- 
ticals are  split  to  receive  the  horizontals  instead  of 


FIG.  36.     RUBBING  OF  UNDER   PLATE  OF 
TRACERY   BAND. 


FIG.  37.     RUBBING  OF   UPPER   PLATE  OF 
TRACERY   BAND. 


FIG.  38.    THE  TWO   PLATES   RIVETED  TOGETHER. 

Middle  XV  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  16>^  in.,  width  6  in.        No.  149. 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND   PULPITS  35 

vice  versa.  The  method  of  putting  together  can  be 
plainly  seen  in  the  illustration.  The  reja  is  built 
directly  into  the  masonry,  in  somewhat  the  same 
manner  as  are  basement  grilles  of  to-day. 

Among  Gotico-florido  tomb  rejas  or  verjas  are  many 
of  unsurpassed  merit,  one  of  the  best  known  being  in 
Salamanca's  Romanesque  or  Old  Cathedral  (Figure  29), 
where  it  protects  the  effigy  of  Bishop  Diego  de  Anaya, 
ambassador  of  Spain  to  the  Council  of  Constance,  who 
died  in  1437.  The  screen  is  composed  of  square  ver- 
tical bars  twisted  below  and  set  on  the  diagonal  above. 
At  each  corner  are  strongly  accentuated  posts  whose 
panels  are  filled  with  richly  modeled  and  perforated 
pointed  foliage.  Quite  different  in  character  are  the 
central  piers  of  the  long  side,  being  built  up  of  numer- 
ous little  buttresses  with  crocketed  tops.  Contrary  to 
most  screens  of  this  period  the  verticals  are  much  inter- 
cepted by  horizontal  bands  of  increasing  richness  above. 
The  central  band  is  made  up  of  Gothic  letters,  as  in 
the  "  Ave  Maria"  grille,  spelling  here  the  Archbishop's 
name.  To  give  further  interest,  a  twisted  vine  with 
innumerable  tendrils  —  a  very  German  motif  —  spreads 
from  bar  to  bar.  The  crowning  frieze  is  by  far  the 
richest  thing  of  its  day,  a  curious  mingling  of  popular 
Gothic  motifs  and  embryonic  classic  forms  most  un- 
classically  wrought.  In  this  cresting  no  trace  of  Ger- 
man or  Flemish  influence  can  be  found;  it  is  an  entirely 
Spanish  interpretation  of  classic.  Candelabra,  griffins 
and  acanthus  scroll  make  their  appearance  for  the  first 
time  in  any  material  since  the  remote  days  of  the 
Roman  occupation  of  Spain.  Perhaps  the  smith 


36  GOTHIC   REJAS  AND   PULPITS 

worked  as  closely  as  he  knew  how  from  his  classic 
models,  whatever  they  may  have  been,  but  the  result 
is  pure  Gothic  in  feeling  and  execution.  No  more 
exuberant  mingling  of  pagan  figures  with  Gothic 
could  be  found  in  any  land.  It  is  a  truly  remarkable 
bit  of  work  viewed  both  from  the  historical  and  the 
artistic  standpoint.  The  grille  dates  from  about  1450. 

At  the  monastery  of  Miraflores,  a  few  miles  out  of 
Burgos,  is  the  tomb  of  Don  Juan  II  and  his  wife 
Isabella  of  Portugal.  Enclosing  it  is  an  excellent 
Gothic  low  grille  with  split  bars  surmounted  by  a 
beautiful  cresting  of  meandering  Gothic  forms  and 
topped  by  diminutive  crenellations,  with  colored 
heraldic  shields  in  the  freize  to  add  to  its  splendor. 
Heraldic  ornament,  here  mentioned  for  the  first 
time,  was  destined  to  become  one  of  the  principal 
motifs  in  Renaissance  ironwork.  The  Miraflores  reja 
was  made  about  1480.  Following  its  inspiration, 
a  number  of  the  tomb  rails  in  Burgos  cloisters 
introduce  the  family  blazon  with  much  prominence. 
Others  executed  about  the  same  time  may  be  seen  at 
Zamora. 

Of  chapel  rejas  in  the  late  Gothic  style,  the  Santa 
Ana,  in  Burgos  Cathedral  (Figure  30)  is  highly  impor- 
tant. The  chapel  itself  was  built  between  1477  and 
1488  and  holds  the  tomb  of  its  founder,  Bishop  de 
Acuna.  As  the  architect  was  Simon  of  Cologne,  one 
finds  quite  natural  the  several  traces  of  German  design 
in  the  reja.  The  lower  part  is  a  simple  arrangement 
of  bars  divided  into  two  stages  by  a  charming  band  of 
flamboyant  tracery;  a  similar  band  accentuated  by  the 


FIG.  40.     FLAMBOYANT  GOTHIC   PULPIT. 
Avila  Cathedral.    Circa  1520. 


FIG.  41.    WROUGHT   IRON    HINGES. 
Churcli  of  San  Millan,  Segovia. 


GOTHIC   REJAS  AND  PULPITS  37 

projecting  turrets  of  Castile  crowns  the  bars  and  forms 
a  base  for  the  cresting.  Thus  far  the  grille  is  Spanish, 
but  in  the  cresting  the  German  tinge  is  apparent,  par- 
ticularly in  the  attenuated  pinnacles  built  up  of  three 
separate  rods.  The  intervening  design  is  of  beautiful 
foliation  arranged  in  an  unusual  way.  In  the  center, 
and  quite  Spanish  again,  is  a  superb  blazon,  the  Acuna 
arms  with  a  rampant  griffin  at  each  side.  This  motif 
is  here  much  more  emphasized  than  in  the  Miraflores 
verja. 

Sigiienza  Cathedral,  a  famous  late  Romanesque 
monument,  holds  an  imposing  display  of  rejas,  some 
Gotico-florido  and  some  Renaissance.  The  former  are 
in  the  cloisters  which,  built  much  later  than  the  cathe- 
dral, are  in  the  late  Gothic  style,  but  with  a  few  beauti- 
ful doorways  in  Plateresque  (Renaissance).  The  rejas 
to  the  Plateresque  portals  exhibit  less  traces  than  the 
stonework  of  the  coming  style,  as  may  be  observed  in 
Figures  31  and  32.  Both  rejas  are  made  up  of  square 
bars  set  on  the  angle,  twisting  towards  the  top  and 
opening  out  into  various  shapes,  and  in  both  examples 
the  horizontal  member  has  ceased  to  be  strictly  utili- 
tarian, and  has  become  an  ornamented  band.  In  each 
case  the  ornament  is  typical  Italian  detail  but  worked 
in  a  manner  purely  Gothic.  Both  crestings  are  also 
Plateresque  but  of  a  fifteenth  century  Gothic  feeling, 
and  are  painted  in  colors.  This  is  particularly  effect- 
ive in  Figure  31,  where  the  heraldic  device  is  worked 
up  in  gold,  red,  and  blue,  while  the  supporting  (and 
now  headless)  figures  are  gold  and  blue. 


38  GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

THE  APPLICATION  OF  PAINT  AND  GILT  TO  IRON 

With  the  use  of  armorial  bearings  as  a  decorative 
motif  the  painting  and  gilding  of  iron  became  natural 
and  legitimate.  Color  demarcation  was,  in  fact,  an 
absolute  necessity  for  the  proper  significance  of  the 
feature  in  question  and  the  iron  designer  was  only  too 
happy  to  turn  the  necessity  into  a  virtue.  It  is  a  proof 
of  his  good  taste  that  he  limited  polychrome  treatment 
to  heraldry,  instead  of  applying  it  to  more  extended 
areas.  The  surface  of  wrought  iron  has,  as  a  result  of 
much  hammering,  a  peculiarly  subtle  interest;  to  cover 
or  conceal  this  with  a  coating  even  as  thin  as  liquefied 
oil  paint  would  have  robbed  the  material  of  its  charm 
and  given  it  the  aspect  of  modern  ironwork  (wherein 
it  is  impossible,  because  of  black  paint,  to  discover 
the  original  quality  of  the  work).  In  olden  times  the 
methods  used  for  coloring  iron  were  much  the  same 
as  to-day,  but  with  a  difference  in  the  ingredients.  It 
was  first  necessary  to  apply  a  "fixing"  coat  to  the 
metal  which  would  act  as  an  adhesive  for  the  oil  paint. 
For  this  purpose  a  much  diluted  glue  was  generally 
used  which,  in  addition  to  serving  as  a  fixative,  was 
so  transparent  as  not  to  effect  the  final  coloring.  That 
there  was  no  special  art  required  to  paint  iron  may  be 
assumed  from  the  fact  it  was  commonly  executed  by 
the  image  painter,  pintor  de  imagineria  —  the  man  em- 
ployed by  the  church  for  coloring  retablos,  images, 
picture  frames,  and  sacred  furnishings  in  general. 
What  has  been  said  about  coloring  is  in  a  measure 
true  of  gilding  ironwork,  namely:  that  no  finish  is  com- 


FIG.  42.    CRUDE   DOOR   KNOCKER. 

Probably  early  XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  of  backplate  8^  in.        No.  48. 


GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS  39 

parable  to  that  left  by  the  hammer  of  the  smith. 
Nevertheless  the  gold  leaf,  because  of  its  method  of 
application,  is  more  sympathetic  than  brushed-on 
color.  At  the  period  when  gilding  certain  portions, 
even  entire  rejas,  came  into  favor  in  Spain  —  that  is, 
at  the  height  of  the  Renaissance  —  gold  was  stream- 
ing in  from  the  recent  conquests  in  America.  Little 
ingots  were  beaten  into  leaves  of  an  almost  infinitesimal 
thinness,  which  were  dipped  in  poppy  oil  and  then 
beaten  to  the  iron.  It  will  be  seen  that  by  this  process 
much  of  the  original  interest  of  the  iron  surface  was 
still  discernible  after  the  gilding.  Another  but  less 
frequent  method  of  applying  gold  was  to  beat  it  to 
a  powder  in  a  mortar  and  pestel,  then  mix  it  with 
either  poppy  oil  or  glue  and  paint  it  on  with  a  brush. 
Chemically  prepared  gilt  and  bronze  powders,  such  as 
are  generally  used  to-day,  were  unknown  to  the  Spanish 
worker;  fortunately,  too,  for  their  use  would  have 
passed  out  of  the  artist's  hands  and  become,  as  now,  a 
.mere  journeyman-painter's  task.  Sevilla  Cathedral 
contains  the  finest  examples  of  rejas  completely  gilded. 
Good  examples  of  painted  motifs  making  rich  spots 
in  a  large  composition  may  be  encountered  in  scores 
of  churches,  none,  however,  more  magnificent  than  the 
blazon  of  Charles  V  in  the  Royal  Chapel  reja  of  Gra- 
nada (Figure  108). 

THE  HORIZONTAL  MEMBER 

Difficulty  of  removal  has  made  it  almost  impossible 
for  collectors  to  possess  a  large  reja  in  toto,  but  numer- 
ous fragments  such  as  bars,  spindles,  cross  bands,  and 


40  GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

even  entire  crestings  have  been  secured;  of  these  a 
cresting  and  a  number  of  bands  or  borders,  in  which 
different  kinds  of  execution  may  be  studied,  are  owned 
by  the  Hispanic  Society.  The  ornamental  horizontal 
is,  as  previously  stated,  the  evolution  of  the  simple 
structural  flat  member  of  early  days.  At  first  it  was 
threaded  at  regular  intervals  to  receive  the  uprights; 
when  it  became  a  modest  ornamental  feature,  the 
uprights  passed  behind  it  as  in  the  Casa  Conchas  ex- 
amples; and  finally,  when  it  expanded  into  the  broad 
and  marvelously  rich  piece  of  work  seen  in  Renais- 
sance rejas,  it  altogether  interrupted  the  verticals  into 
short  lengths.  This  meant  that  the  structural  part 
formerly  played  by  each  individual  upright  was  now 
confined  to  a  certain  few  full-length  pilasters  and  piers, 
which  were  stoutly  proportioned  to  meet  the  demands 
made  on  them  (Figure  25).  Of  the  elaboration  of  the 
band  by  means  of  lettering  pierced  a  jour  the  Ave 
Maria  (Figure  27)  furnishes  an  excellent  example. 
Leaf  and  geometric  patterns  pierced  through  a  single 
sheet  of  iron  in  early  days  and  later  through  several 
superimposed  sheets,  offered  another  means  of  securing 
ornamental  effect  (Figures  33  to  38).  The  earliest 
pieces  in  this  style  were  cut  with  absolutely  flat,  un- 
treated edges,  as  in  the  lock  plate  on  Figure  15;  but 
later  when  several  layers  of  metal  were  used  the  pat- 
tern edge  was  sometimes  carefully  beveled.  As  Gothic 
passed  into  Gotico-florido,  these  simple  flat  treatments 
were  felt  to  be  inadequate  for  the  richness  and  move- 
ment of  the  composition,  and  modeling  in  high  relief  was 
practiced.  It  was  obtained  by  repousse  work  —  the 


FIG.  43.     DOOR  KNOCKER. 
Showing  early  use  of  crown  motif.    Late  XIV  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  10  in.,  width  4  in.        No.  47. 


GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS  41 

beating  out  of  the  pattern  by  blows  from  the  back  — 
and  may  be  encountered  either  alone  or,  as  in  Figure 
39,  in  combination  with  piercing.  Among  the  various 
bands  illustrated,  the  flamboyant  tracery  pieces  (Fig- 
ures 35  and  38)  are  particularly  interesting  to  the 
student  since  it  has  been  possible  to  obtain  rubbings 
of  their  separate  parts.  Figure  33  is  the  foundation 
plate  of  Figure  35,  rubbed  from  the  back,  and  it  appears 
much  denser  and  less  transparent  than  in  the  finished 
work,  after  the  very  open  upper  plate  (Figure  34)  has 
been  applied  to  it.  Both  sheets  are  about  one-sixteenth 
of  an  inch  thick,  and  are  fitted  together  with  such  nicety 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  determine,  until  after 
close  examination,  whether  the  work  is  not  done  from 
one  thickness  of  metal  cut  in  two  planes.  These  same 
observations  apply  to  Figure  38  and  its  separate  rub- 
bings where  the  pattern  is  even  more  intricate  and 
refined. 

As  a  stiffener  for  the  band  and  a  better  means  for 
applying  it  to  the  reja,  a  strip  of  iron  usually  runs 
along  both  top  and  bottom,  back  and  front,  and  is 
riveted  to  the  pattern.  Such  strips  generally  take  the 
form  of  a  moulding,  the  execution  of  which  is  strangely 


FIG.  39.     FOLIATED  BAND. 
Pierced  and  Beaten  in  Repousse".    Late  XV  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Length  2  ft.  2  in.,  width  6  in.        No.  153. 


42  GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

crude  even  where  the  band  is  most  refined.  This 
disparity  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  it  was  a 
much  more  difficult  task  to  beat  out  a  good  architec- 
tural moulding  of  even  the  simplest  section  than  to 
execute  piercing  or  repousse  work.  Bands  similar  to 
those  described,  but  smaller,  were  made  in  great  quan- 
tity for  chests;  and  being  easily  portable  are  eagerly 
sought  by  collectors. 

GOTHIC  PULPITS 

Besides  the  reja  another  peculiarly  Spanish  produc- 
tion was  the  iron  pulpit,  often  designed  in  conjunction 
with  it.  This,  like  the  Gothic  reja,  is  not  as  frequent 
as  in  the  succeeding  period,  but  a  few  examples  of 
fine  design  and  workmanship  may  be  found  at  Avila 
and  Burgos,  among  other  places.  Pulpits  are  generally 
in  pairs,  one  at  each  side  of  the  Capilla  Mayor,  and  are 
used  for  the  reading  of  the  gospel  and  epistle  respec- 
tively. A  single  one,  a  drawing  of  which  may  be  found 
in  Street's  Gothic  Architecture  on  Spain,  stands  in  the 
small  church  of  San  Gil  at  Burgos.  There  is  very  little 
about  this  work  that  has  to  do  with  real  smithery,  the 
faces  of  its  hexagonal  form  being  divided  into  vertical 
panels  of  delicate  Gothic  patterning  which  are  pro- 
duced by  superimposed  pierced  plates  riveted  to  a 
wooden  frame.  The  pulpit  is  supported  on  a  standard 
rather  pauvre  and  ungraceful,  and  is  attached  besides 
to  one  of  the  nave  piers.  It  dates  from  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

The  Avila  example  (Figure  40)  is  far  more  beautiful 
and  interesting  both  as  a  piece  of  architectural  design 


FIG.  44.    GOTHIC-RENAISSANCE   DOOR   KNOCKER. 

Early  XVI  Century. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  11  in.,  width  4^  in.        No.  49. 


GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS  43 

and  as  ironwork.  It  is  flamboyant  Gothic,  although 
erected  at  the  same  time  as  its  Renaissance  companion 
and  probably  by  the  same  master  —  supposed  to  be 
the  rejero  Juan  Frances  who  executed  the  rejas  for  the 
capilla  mayor  and  for  the  coro  of  the  cathedral.  Both 
pulpits  are  of  gilded  iron,  hexagonal  in  plan,  ten  feet 
in  height,  and  the  body  of  each  bears  the  arms  of  the 
cathedral,  namely,  the  Agnus  Dei,  the  lion,  and  the 
castle,  all  surmounted  by  a  crown.  Here  the  similarity 
ends,  for  the  body  of  the  pulpit  in  question  is  in  pure 
flamboyant  Gothic  of  strongly  Flemish  flavor.  The 
accessories,  however  —  the  standard,  brackets,  stair- 
case, and  rail  —  are  Renaissance;  yet  the  ensemble, 
due  to  a  most  intelligent  observance  of  scale,  is  per- 
fectly congruous.  The  sides  of  the  pulpit,  including 
that  which  opens  as  a  gate,  are  divided  into  upper 
and  lower  halves  by  an  ornamental  band,  and  these 
are  divided  vertically  by  a  delicate  crocketed  pinnacle. 
The  tracery  is  about  the  same  in  all  the  twenty-four 
panels,  except  for  those  little  discrepancies  which  make 
up  the  charm  of  Gothic  ironwork.  One  marvels  at  the 
author  who  dared  to  pick  out  such  a  specially  difficult 
phase  of  geometric  tracery  requiring,  as  it  did,  the 
greatest  nicety  of  calculation  and  execution.  The 
delicate  modeling  of  this  tracery  into  planes  is  ob- 
tained by  the  familiar  method  of  riveting  together 
successive  sheets  cut  to  form  the  pattern.  It  is  not 
an  attempt  to  copy  a  carved  wooden  pulpit  in  iron, 
for  everywhere  the  rivet  heads  have  been  accentuated 
rather  than  concealed;  by  following  their  outline  the 
size  of  each  sheet  of  metal  is  clearly  determined. 


44  GOTHIC  REJAS  AND  PULPITS 

These  rivets  go  through  to  the  oak  frame  on  which  the 
work  is  built  up.  1520  is  generally  accepted  as  the 
date  of  this  production. 

Far  later  than  this,  but  likewise  embodying  both 
Gotico-florido  and  Renaissance  forms,  is  the  iron  pul- 
pit from  the  church  of  San  Salvador  in  Cortejana  in 
the  province  of  Estremadura.  In  this  case  there  is 
no  wooded  framework,  the  whole  being  built  up  of 
solid  bar  iron  richly  wrought  in  florid  forms.  It  is  of 
German  aspect,  but  was  wrought  long  after  Spain's 
intercourse  with  the  Low  Countries  had  ceased  — as 
late,  in  fact,  as  the  seventeenth  century.  Other  ex- 
amples, good,  but  not  strikingly  fine,  may  be  seen  at 
either  side  of  the  capilla  mayor  in  Murcia  Cathedral. 
Many  more  pulpits  than  are  here  mentioned  were  un- 
doubtedly made  but  were  done  away  with,  or  in  some 
cases  replaced  by  Renaissance,  when  the  old  Gothic 
position  and  arrangement  of  the  coro  was  changed. 
This  change,  which  will  be  described  later,  came  in 
Renaissance  times,  and  probably  caused  the  discard- 
ing of  much  fine  Gothic  work. 


FIG.  45.    GOTHIC-RENAISSANCE   DOOR    KNOCKER. 

Early  XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  10K  in.,  width  4  in.        No.  50. 


FIG.  46.     GOTHIC-RENAISSANCE   DOOR   KNOCKER. 

About   1600. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  \2%  in.,  width  4X  in.        No.  51. 


Ill 

GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND   DOMESTIC 
UTENSILS 

KNOCKERS 

AS  Gothic  architecture  matured  in  France  and 
Western  Europe  in  general,  it  demanded  a 
richly  carved  and  paneled  wooden  door  which 
left  no  space  for  the  spreading  iron  hinges  so  popular 
in  the  beginning  of  the  style;  but  in  Spanish  Gothic 
this  typical  carved  door  never  succeeded  in  supplant- 
ing the  flat  Moorish  one  sheathed  in  metal  or  studded 
with  nailheads.  Even  in  Toledo  Cathedral,  where 
certain  Gothic  structural  features  (the  vaulting  of  the 
ambulatory,  for  instance)  are  carried  further  than  in 
any  French  prototype,  the  massive  main  doors  and 
several  interior  ones  are  Moorish  in  type. 

The  Moorish  door  is  built  up  of  an  elaborate  inter- 
secting wooden  frame  which  remains  visible  on  the 
inside  as  a  series  of  varying  coffers,  and  is  covered  on 
the  exterior  with  stout  vertical  boarding.  Contrary 
to  the  carved  Gothic  door,  which  was  so  given  over 
to  a  display  of  the  wood-carver's  skill  that  it  left  no 
room  for  metal  decoration,  this  one  presented  its  en- 
tire exterior  for  iron  embellishment;  in  other  words, 
there  was  a  distinct  difference  between  door  hardware 
in  Spain  and  in  France  or  England;  and  this  even 
from  Romanesque  and  early  Gothic  times  when  the 


46        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND   UTENSILS 

hinge  was  developed  north  of  the  Pyrenees  to  its 
uttermost  decorative  possibility,  but  in  Spain  was 
rarely  featured.  When,  occasionally,  an  ornamental 
strap  hinge  was  made,  it  closely  resembled  French 
prototypes  as  on  the  door  of  San  Millan  at  Segovia 
(Figure  41).  Generally  it  was  kept  within  strictly 
utilitarian  bounds  and  was  fastened  on  the  interior 
of  the  door.  Exterior  hinges  and  carved  panels  being 
conspicuously  few,  it  is  rather  to  the  nailhead  or 
bosse,  the  knocker,  and  the  backplate,  that  one  must 
look  for  the  decorative  finish  of  the  flat  Spanish  door. 

Next  to  the  nailhead,  whose  making  has  already 
been  described,  the  most  characteristic  bit  of  Spanish 
door  hardware  is  the  knocker  (called  llamador  by  the 
Spaniards  and  aldabon  by  the  Moors).  The  first 
knockers  were  very  simple,  consisting  of  a  flat  back- 
plate  to  which  was  riveted  either  a  ring  or  a  vertical 
hammer,  the  latter  often  dropping  against  a  large 
plain  nailhead.  The  backplate  grew  in  time  to  be 
very  elaborate,  but  at  first  it  was  unornamented  and 
crude  in  outline.  Even  the  crudest,  however,  con- 
tained the  germ  of  an  idea  peculiarly  Spanish  and 
which  was  later  very  highly  developed  —  the  hood 
over  the  vertical  knocker  (Figure  42).  It  was  with 
the  solid  hammer  of  the  first  knockers  that  the  smith 
was  most  concerned.  For  this  he  went  to  nature 
for  his  inspiration  and  fashioned  archaic  men,  birds, 
lizards,  etc.,  extremely  quaint,  but  devoid  of  the  ar- 
chitecturalizing  that  later  appeared  in  even  the  small- 
est accessories.  From  these  beginnings  down  to  the 
end  the  development  of  the  knocker  may  be  studied 


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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        47 

in  the  Hispanic  Society's  collection,  from  which  most 
of  the  following  illustrations  of  door  hardware  are 
taken. 

Almost  primitive  in  appearance  are  Figures  42  and 
43,  produced  north  of  the  Ebro.  These  are  early 
Gothic  in  period  but  Romanesque  in  spirit,  although 
their  dirth  of  ornamentation  makes  it  difficult  to 
place  them  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  They  may 
even  have  been  made  as  late  as  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century  in  some  remote  district  of  Catalonia, 
Navarre,  or  Aragon,  which  had  never  been  penetrated 
by  either  pure  Gothic  or  Saracenic.  It  is  their  frankly 
crude  workmanship  rather  than  any  merit  of  design 
that  makes  them  interesting.  Over  the  backplate  in 
Figure  42,  as  already  mentioned,  may  be  seen  the 
crude  hood  or  canopy  which  will  be  recognized  later 
in  the  rich  crowns,  semi-circular  in  form,  which  re- 
mained a  feature  of  Spanish  knockers  even  through 
Renaissance  days.  In  Figure  43  it  is  the  ornament 
at  the  top  of  the  backplate  which,  when  much  re- 
fined, became  the  typical  adornment  of  the  crown 
motif  just  described.  The  lack  of  stability  and  finish 
at  the  sides  of  this  backplate  seems  to  have  disturbed 
the  smith,  for  we  find  him  in  Figure  44  adding  at- 
tenuated buttresses  invisibly  riveted  from  the  back; 
and  in  Figure  45  still  further  architecturalizing  his 
work  by  cabled  edging  surmounted  by  diminutive 
pinnacles.  Buttresses  were  treated  in  many  ways 
and  in  addition  to  cabling  were  sometimes  splayed  and 
chamfered.  In  Figures  44  and  45  both  backplates  are 
cut  from  metal  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  thick  and 


48        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

pierced  in  the  manner  which  had  now  become  popular 
and  which  in  this  instance  is  of  Renaissance  outline 
at  the  top.  The  lizard  adorning  the  hammer  (Figure 
44)  was  widely  used  in  France  as  well  as  Spain  during 
this  period;  the  extent  to  which  it  was  refined  may 
be  seen  in  Figure  46  and  Figure  70.  The  same 
features  were  generally  followed:  —  outstretched  wings 
beautifully  etched  and  engraved,  arched  neck  of 
scales,  and  ringed  tail;  but  in  Figure  46  the  work  is 


FIG.  47.  ARCHAIC  HAMMER  FIG.  48.  ARCHAIC  HAMMER 

OF  A  XV  CENTURY  OF  A  XV  CENTURY 

DOOR  KNOCKER.  DOOR  KNOCKER. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America.  Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  12  in.    No.  54.  Height  7  in.    No.  53. 


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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        49 

so  mathematically  precise  and  so  accurately  cut  that 
much  of  the  charm  of  the  earlier  examples  is  lost. 

Probably  contemporaneous  with  Figures  42  and  43 
are  Figures  47  and  48,  also  curiously  archaic,  but 
likewise  not  as  old  as  would  appear  at  first  glance, 
and  with  the  metal  hammered  into  a  much  greater 
density  than  in  previous  examples.  Both  may  be  fif- 
teenth century  work.  The  immemorial  boina  or  Basque 
cap  of  the  man  places  one  of  these  pieces  at  least  as 
coming  from  the  northern  provinces;  an  impression 
further  borne  out  by  the  purplish  tinge  of  the  iron, 
Biscayan  ore  being  remarkable  for  its  rich  purple 
color.  Probably  neither  of  these  figures  was  ever 
furnished  with  a  backplate,  a  nailhead  placed  under 
the  hammer  sufficing  for  the  necessary  resonance. 
Of  the  two,  the  tailless  dog,  whose  feet  rest  on  a  little 
cushion  after  the  conventional  manner  of  the  dog 
on  Gothic  tombs,  is  less  primitive  looking.  Another 
early  fifteenth  century  piece  is  No.  52  in  the  Hispanic 
collection,  a  curious  little  dragon  with  a  shield  on  his 
back.  The  heavy  bar  which  forms  the  frame  of  this 
knocker  and  to  which  the  beast  is  fastened,  is  hinged 
onto  two  projecting  stanchions.  This  is  a  fine  bit 
of  smithing  with  good  back  riveting. 

Bosses,  singly  or  in  pairs  with  one  placed  above  the 
other,  were  found  to  serve  very  well  as  supports  for 
the  knocker  (Figure  49),  thus  doing  away  with  the 
backplate;  but  the  bosse,  although  a  Moorish  feat- 
ure, was  often  treated  in  a  way  which  might  be  classed 
as  Gothic.  In  Figure  50  it  is  beaten  out  into  natural- 
istic leaf  forms,  and  in  Figure  52  the  two  separate 
units  are  made  of  rosettes,  each  concentric  layer  cut 


50        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

to  a  different  pattern  so  as  to  give  a  flower-like  effect 
-a  motif  often  found  in  later  Renaissance  objects. 
This  knocker  introduces  the  pilgrims'  shell,  a  favorite 
motif  in  Castile.  Going  back  to  Figures  50  and  51, 
we  find  the  hammer  bent  from  a  rectangular  bar  and 
suggesting  the  patterns  into  which  reja  verticals  were 
often  opened  out  for  decorative  effect. 

Figure  53,  one  of  a  massive  pair,  is  a  splendid  ex- 
ample of  Gothic  smithing.  The  hammer  is  of  the 
popular  flattened  ring  type  found  all  over  Spain,  and 
its  ends,  instead  of  being  welded  together,  may  be 
seen  terminating  separately  where  they  pass  through 


FIG.  55.    KNOCKER. 

Gothic  in  spirit  but  probably  XVIII  Century  work. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  18  in.        No.  117. 


FIG.  53.    ONE  OF  A   PAIR  OF  GOTHIC   DOOR 

KNOCKERS. 
XV  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Total  height  13  in.        Nos.  71  and  73. 

FIG.  54.     DOOR    KNOCKER  OF  MUDEJAR   DESIGN. 

XVII  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Total  Height  13  in.        No.  86. 


GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        51 

the  beast's  head.  The  contour  of  the  ring  is  pleasingly 
irregular  and  the  modeling,  owing  to  the  inconspic- 
uousness  of  the  punch  marks,  is  felt  all  over  the 
surface.  The  horned  head,  especially  around  the 
open  mouth,  is  beautifully  wrought  and  shows  no 
sign  of  supplementary  tooling.  Such  a  piece  might 
well  have  been  a  warning  to  later  smiths  who  so  or- 
namented their  surface  as  to  conceal  its  forging.  An- 
other good  piece  of  smithing,  but  one  which  may  not 
be  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  is  Figure  55. 
While  entirely  forged,  it  assembles  many  of  the  mo- 
tifs used  by  those  who  worked  the  metal  while  cold 
—  the  chief  reason  for  suspecting  it  to  be  more  modern 
than  its  forging  appears.  Whatever  its  date,  it  is 
interesting  as  exhibiting  the  limit  to  which  smithery 
on  a  small  scale  could  be  carried. 

Old  hardware  is  often  difficult  to  place  as  to  period 
owing  to  its  original  door  having  rotted  away  and  the 
piece  under  consideration  having  been  applied  to  the 
newer  door.  Then,  too,  artistic  movements  even  as 
great  and  widespread  as  the  Renaissance  traveled  slowly 
in  Spain.  Important  towns  like  Avila  and  Segovia,  for 
instance,  never  really  shook  off  medievalism,  and  their 
artisans  went  on  producing  Gothic  long  after  others 
were  working  in  the  "  Italian  taste."  For  this  reason 
it  is  necessary  to  have  a  knowledge  of  local  art  and 
history  to  determine  the  age  of  an  object  and  whether 
its  style  is  indigenous  or  transplanted.  This  is  very 
apparent  in  examining  the  iron  in  the  Vich  Museum; 
for  it  contains  pieces  collected  in  outlying  Pyrenean 
towns  and  authentically  placed  in  the  seventeenth 


52        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

century  but  which  look  as  primitive  as  fourteenth 
century  pieces  produced  in  Barcelona. 

THE  EASTERN  INFLUENCE  IN  KNOCKERS 

Door  ironwork  passed  in  time  from  the  simple 
smithing  process  into  a  combination  of  smithing  with 
Eastern  methods  of  enrichment  applied  when  the 
metal  was  cold.  As  such  treatment  affected  surface 
rather  than  form,  the  flat  backplate  was  naturally 
the  first  part  to  undergo  change.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  notching  and  lobing  it  around  the  margin 
and  piercing  its  center  with  Oriental  and  Gothic 
tracery  or  incising  it  with  patterning.  Figure  56  is 
one  of  the  earliest  departures;  but  here  the  forged 
bird  is  incised  as  well,  its  feathers  being  indicated  by 
etching.  In  this  same  class  is  Number  56  in  the  His- 
panic Society's  collection,  with  a  notched  backplate 
and  a  curious  S-shaped  forged  hammer  in  the  form  of 
a  two-headed  dragon  whose  scales  have  been  elaborately 
chiseled. 

In  contrast  to  the  above  knockers,  which  in  spite 
of  Moorish  treatment  follow  Gothic  forms,  are  those 
of  truly  Oriental  form  with  backplate  invariably 
circular  or  star-shaped;  these  usually  had  a  ring  for 
a  hammer  and  a  separate  bolt  for  a  striker.  The 
ring  was  also  combined  with  an  extremely  small 
backplate  —  little  more,  in  fact,  than  an  anchorage 
for  it  (Figures  57  and  58).  The  circular  backplate  was 
pierced  with  Eastern  patterns  and  its  edge  notched 
and  serrated  or  perhaps  finished  with  a  cabled  bor- 
der. Of  this  class  are  Figures  59,  60,  61  and  62.  Their 


FIG.  56.     DOOR   KNOCKER  WITH    INCISED 
PATTERNING. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  13X  in.     No.  55. 


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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        53 

rings  do  not  depend  solely  on  the  smith's  hammer 
for  interest,  but  are  treated  with  untiring  patience 
by  being  pounced,  lined  and  patterned.  Even  more 
Eastern  as  a  conception  is  the  star-shaped  plate  seen 
in  Figure  63.  This,  as  well  as  Figure  64,  is  a  good 
Mudejar  example  with  Moorish  and  Gothic  details 
successfully  harmonized.  In  both  the  filagree  of  the 
backplate  is  interesting,  for  it  shows  how  the  scale  of 
Gothic  ornamentation  can  be  reduced  to  a  delicacy 
which  is  purely  Oriental  in  appearance.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  these  two  pieces  were  made  by  Moorish 


FIG.  65.    DOOR  KNOCKER  WITH  GOTHIC  BACKPLATE. 

XVI I  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  9l/2  in.    No.  110. 


54        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND   UTENSILS 

artizans  working  long  after  Christian  rule  had  been 
established. 

Gothic  considerably  architecturalized  is  seen  in 
Figure  65,  which  immediately  precedes  the  flamboyant 
seen  in  Figures  66  and  67.  In  this  Gotico-florido 
period  when  stone  itself,  in  spite  of  its  limitations, 
was  as  intricately  cut  as  if  it  were  soft  wood,  it  is  not 
surprising  to  find  the  ironworker  likewise  overstep- 
ping the  limits  of  his  stubborn  material,  and  reaching 
a  laciness  hardly  surpassed  by  gold  and  silver  workers. 
The  basis  of  his  knocker  design  was  the  rich  flamboy- 
ant stonework  of  the  day,  and  the  figure  used  as  a 
striker  was  not  forged,  but  chiseled  out  of  the  solid 
iron.  Backplates  too  were  extremely  rich,  often 
chiseled  and  beveled  as  well  as  pierced,  as  if  labor 
counted  for  nothing;  and  in  proportion  as  excessive 
labor  was  expended  on  an  object  the  theory  of  good 
structure  was  neglected.  The  lacelike  openness  of 
the  backplate  in  Figure  67  represents  a  prodigious 
amount  of  patient  cutting  in  each  of  the  two  pierced 
sheets,  and  these  are  so  ingeniously  riveted  together 
as  to  appear  like  one  thickness  of  metal  beveled. 
While  in  a  general  way  this  piece  resembles  a  typical 
French  flamboyant  knocker,  it  has  a  Spanish  appear- 
ance because  of  the  Eastern  patterning  incised  up  the 
sides  of  the  buttresses  and  on  the  neck  of  the  winged 
beast;  the  tracery  crowning  each  panel  is  likewise 
very  Spanish,  as  seen  in  the  semicircular  crown  motif 
already  mentioned.  How  much  further  this  ornate- 
ness  might  have  been  carried  if  Renaissance  had  not 
made  its  appearance  is  problematical. 


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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        55 

Indicating  the  flamboyant  artizan's  attempt  to 
grasp  the  Renaissance  are  Figures  68  and  69  which, 
for  the  sake  of  sequence,  may  be  termed  transitional. 
In  both  cases  the  backplate  has  lost  its  Gothic  but- 
tresses and  pinnacles  and  instead  is  enclosed  in  a  severe 
moulded  frame  —  a  Renaissance  idea.  As  might  be 
expected,  the  mitering  is  inaccurate;  the  predeces- 
sors of  this  struggling  Renaissance  craftsman  would 
not  have  tolerated  such  a  method  of  making  a  frame 
but  would  have  bent  the  entire  moulding  from  a 
straight  bar.  Rich  flamboyant  tracery  has  here  been 


FIG.  66.    GOTHIC  KNOCKER. 

Late  XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  of  backplate  6#  in.    No.  106. 


56        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND   UTENSILS 

abandoned  for  a  simple  leaf  pattern  neither  Gothic 
nor  Renaissance;  the  two  forged  hammers  are  like- 
wise much  simplified.  This  particular  ornamentation 
is  very  Aragonese  in  character,  and  it  is  probable  that 
these  two  pieces  were  made  in  that  province  long  after 
the  Gothic  had  passed  away  elsewhere.  In  this  same 
class,  but  exhibiting  slightly  more  of  Renaissance 
understanding,  are  Figures  70,  71,  and  72;  the  last 
with  the  round-headed  classic  arch  crudely  cut  through 
the  backplate. 

LOCKS  AND  HASPS 

Spanish  locks,  while  artistic,  never  received  the 
same  amount  of  attention  from  the  ironworker  as  did 
knockers,  except  in  the  case  of  those  made  for  the 
vargueno,  a  characteristic  piece  of  Spanish  furniture 
which  will  be  mentioned  later.  Lock-making  for 
doors  never  became  the  fine  art  it  was  in  France,  where 
the  French  smith,  assimilating  the  methods  and  skill 
of  the  locksmith,  armorer,  and  jeweler,  produced 
locks  so  exquisitely  wrought  that  they  have  since  found 
a  place  in  all  considerable  collections  of  art  works. 
There  are  nevertheless  some  excellent  Spanish  locks 
in  the  Hispanic  collection;  but  the  majority,  as  indi- 
cated by  their  hinged  hasps,  were  originally  affixed 
to  trunks  and  chests.  In  the  illustrations  of  Ro- 
manesque and  early  Gothic  rejas  can  be  seen  the  simple 
locks  of  those  periods;  the  device  being  the  slide  bolt 
with  attached  hasp  which,  when  released,  served  as 
a  handle  as  well.  Such  a  lock,  or  rather  bolt,  was 
necessarily  large  and  crude,  for  anything  of  small 


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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        57 

scale  and  greater  nicety  would  have  failed  to  adjust 
itself  to  the  structural  discrepancies  in  these  big, 
heavy  gates;  but  even  Renaissance  rejeros  appreci- 
ated its  suitability  for  the  reja  and  continued  using  it, 
considerably  enriched,  throughout  the  sixteenth  century 
(Figure  103). 

Common  to  all  Europe  was  the  lock  which,  dis- 
pensing with  the  bolt,  consisted  of  hasp,  lockplate  and 
box,  the  whole  being  fastened  in  position  by  means 
of  fixing  staples.  Of  these  last,  an  early  specimen, 
rather  crude,  holds  the  knocker  of  Figure  45  in  place. 
The  fixing  staple  having  proven  itself  to  be  the  strong- 
est means  of  fastening  down  the  lockplate,  it  was  used 
in  varying  form  throughout  all  periods  and  became 
in  the  Spanish  Renaissance  a  work  of  art  in  itself  that 
sometimes  overshadowed  the  rest  of  the  lock.  Typ- 
ical Gothic  ones  are  seen  in  the  fifteenth  century  lock 
in  Figure  73.  This  is  of  crude  flamboyant  work- 
manship and  the  traceried  band  was  once  gilded. 
It  and  Figure  74  are  typical  of  the  period  —  square 
or  oblong  panels  of  tracery  treated  architecturally, 
a  decorated  hasp  often  in  the  form  of  an  archaic  fig- 
ure, and  some  moveable  feature  to  conceal  the  key- 
hole; this  last,  as  seen  in  Figure  74,  sometimes  took 
the  form  of  a  Biblical  personage  under  a  canopy.  A 
rather  amusing  innovation  in  this  piece  is  the  four 
corner  heads  used  instead  of  staples  to  hold  the  lock 
fast. 

A  rich  late  Gothic  lock  and  hasp,  and  one  with  a 
more  distinctively  Spanish  treatment  than  the  two 
last  mentioned,  is  Figure  76.  Pieces  almost  identical 


58        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

to  it  existed  in  the  splendid  collection  of  the  Duque  de 
Segovia,  which  was  recently  sold  outside  of  Spain. 
Figure  76  consists  of  an  ornamental  backplate  with 
a  very  much  raised  lockbox,  the  former  held  down 
at  the  corners  by  four  beautifully  worked  rosettes, 


FIG.  75. 


CHEST  LOCK  WITH  FALSE  FIXING  STAPLES 

OVER  KEYHOLE. 

Late  XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Backplate  6  in.  square.    No.  108. 


between  which  the  plate  is  perforated  with  fish  tracery 
forming  a  border  around  the  lockbox;  in  addition  to 
this  treatment,  the  edges  are  scalloped  and  the  re- 
maining surface  engraved  in  the  Moorish  fashion. 
The  hasp  (which  is  out  of  position  in  the  illustration) 


FIG.  67.     RICH    FLAMBOYANT   KNOCKER. 

Middle  XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  10  in.,  width  6  in.     No.  111. 


GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        59 

is  treated  with  as  much  attention  as  the  backplate. 
Its  lower  part,  raised  to  fit  over  the  lockbox,  is  per- 
forated and  engraved,  and  on  it  lies  a  little  lizard- 
like  beast  with  curled  tongue  and  tail.  At  the  top 
this  hasp  widens  out  to  fourteen  inches  and  is  much 
engraved  with  the  vine  pattern,  strongly  suggesting 
the  form  and  patterning  of  German  work;  this  por- 


FIG.  80.    LOCKPLATE  AND  HASP. 

Probably  XVII  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  14  in.    No.  115. 

tion  is  skillfully  welded  to  the  bar  at  the  top.    There 
is  no  indication  of  how  this  huge  hasp  was  fastened 
or  hinged  to  its  object;  —  probably  by  staples  which 
passed  over  the  end  of  the  bar,  but  are  now  missing. 
Hasps   as   well   as   fixing    staples    received    great 


60        GOTHIC  HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

attention  from  the  locksmith.  As  the  nature  of  the 
hasp  did  not  allow  much  latitude  of  form,  the  long 
narrow  strip  used  at  the  beginning  endured  throughout 
all  periods,  but  the  manner  of  decorating  it  changed 
with  each  epoch.  Owing  to  its  being  attached  sepa- 
rately from  the  lock,  and  being,  besides,  the  more 
fragile  member,  the  hasp  is  frequently  missing  in  old 
locks.  Figures  76  to  79  are  good  examples  of  late 
Gothic  running  into  Renaissance. 

CHEST  AND  BOX   FITTINGS 

Throughout  the  ages  caskets  and  chests  have  al- 
ways received  great  attention  from  the  artizan.  As 
iron  came  into  its  own  in  the  Middle  Ages,  we  find 
chests  and  strong  boxes  in  that  metal  produced  in  all 
the  countries  of  Europe;  but  far  more  numerous, 
because  less  ponderous,  were  wooden  boxes  with  iron 
trimmings.  Such  objects  answered  the  manifold  uses 
of  the  yet  unborn  wardrobe  or  chest  of  drawers.  The 
humblest  as  well  as  the  noblest  dwellings  were  sup- 
plied with  them,  so  that  the  chest-maker,  especially 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  was  one  of 
the  busiest  artizans  in  any  land.  The  large  sized 
chest,  called  in  Spain  an  arcon,  served  also  as  a  seat 
and,  when  covered  with  a  straw  mattress,  as  a  bed; 
and  was  so  solidly  constructed  and  reinforced  with  iron 
strips  as  to  be  practically  indestructible.  Of  early 
Spanish  chests  one  of  the  best  known  is  that  said  to 
have  belonged  to  the  Cid  and  now  in  Burgos  Cathe- 
dral, with  many  iron  rings  indicating  that  it  was  a 
baggage  chest  to  be  fastened  to  the  back  of  a  sumpter 


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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND   UTENSILS        61 

mule.  Spanish  chests  of  a  small,  portable  size  were 
frequently  covered  with  hide  or  parchment  which 
was  painted  red;  or  sometimes  the  covering  was  left 
its  natural  color  and  the  iron  straps  painted  vermil- 
lion.  Later,  in  addition  to  these  necessary  iron  straps 
and  clamps,  were  added  iron  rosettes,  plaques,  nu- 
merous hinges  and  double  locks,  all  beautifully  wrought. 
The  smallest  chests,  for  guarding  jewels,  missals,  and 
other  little  objects,  were  called  arquetas  and  were 
sometimes  made  entirely  of  iron  as  elaborately  chis- 
eled as  was  the  small  ivory  box  of  the  Moors.  In 
the  fifteenth  century  the  jewel  box  was  provided  with 
little  drawers  and  was  thence  known  as  a  huche. 

One  type  of  small  casket  is  that  which  figured  in 
the  inventory  of  Margaret  of  Spain  in  1524  as  "bien 
ouvre  a  jour"  in  the  "maniere  d'Espagne."  It  con- 
sisted of  a  somewhat  flat  rectangular  box  with  slightly 
ridged  lid  and  was  covered  with  parallel  rows  of  re- 
peating tracery  patterns  worked  out  of  two  thick- 
nesses of  pierced  plate  and  half  round  wire.  Such 
boxes  were  usually  raised  on  rudely  finished  buttresses 
and  furnished  with  peculiar  and  characteristic  lock- 
plates.  The  locks  were  often  of  the  greatest  richness 
and  intricately  wrought,  sometimes  requiring  several 
keys  to  open  them.  Chests  of  late  Gothic  days  were 
finished  entirely  in  the  richest  flamboyant  ironwork, 
never  perhaps  with  quite  the  refinement  and  knowl- 
edge of  architectural  forms  as  seen  in  France,  but 
often  displaying  more  originality. 

A  splendid  chest  in  repousse  is  in  the  Madrid  Mu- 
seum. It  is  Byzantine  in  character  though  whether 


62        GOTHIC  HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

it  is  as  early  as  this  would  imply  is  difficult  to  say. 
It  may  have  been  made  in  Gothic  days  under  the  in- 
spiration of  some  richly  carved  Moorish  ivory  box. 
Both  the  sides  and  the  gabled  lid  are  divided  into  small 
panels  of  uniform  size,  which  are  filled  with  charming 
little  figures  of  ladies,  knights  afoot  and  mounted, 
dragons,  etc.  Figure  81  is  a  velvet-covered  trunk 
with  rich  iron  fittings  in  the  Hispanic  collection. 
Figure  82  is  a  small  beautifully  tooled  leather  box 
with  iron  fittings. 

CANDELABRAS,  BRAZIERS,  AND  OTHER  SMALL 
OBJECTS 

Another  medieval  object  interesting  to  the  student 
of  ironwork  is  the  candelero  of  which  several  Catalan 
examples  are  illustrated.  These  modest  utensils,  be- 
speaking the  relative  luxury  of  wax  candles  instead 
of  olive  oil  for  lighting  interiors,  were  used  from  the 
beginning  of  the  eleventh  century  in  churches  and 
homes  north  of  the  Ebro.  The  Museum  of  Vich  has 
a  large  and  diversified  collection  in  which  the  devel- 
opment of  the  candelabra  may  be  traced.  The  old- 
est form  is  based  on  the  Roman  oil  lamp  and  has  a 
basin  or  drip  plate  at  the  bottom.  Later  the  central 
stem  or  pricket  was  augmented  by  branches  holding 
sockets  for  smaller  candles,  and  the  whole  was  mounted 
on  three  spreading  feet,  as  in  the  eleventh  century 
example  (Figure  83).  In  the  later  (Figure  84),  the 
base  has  become  a  square  pan,  with  central  and  corner 
prickets.  These  two  are  small,  about  fourteen  and 
seventeen  inches  high,  and  were  used  on  the  table; 


Du 
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GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        63 


but  Figures  85  and  86  are  five  and  six  feet  high,  and 
were  used  in  churches.  The  making  of  candeleros 
was  such  a  thriving  business  that  very  many  artizans 
were  engaged  in  it  and  thus,  though  the  type  of  the 
object  changed  but  little  throughout  the  Gothic  pe- 
riod, the  manner  of  adorning  it  was  full  of  variety  and 
fancy.  In  the  more  mountainous  regions  the  smith 


FIG.  83. 

TABLE  CANDELERO  PAT- 
TERNED AFTER  THE 

ROMAN. 

In  the  museum  at  Vich. 
XI  Century.    Height  14  in. 


FIG.  84. 

TABLE  CANDELERO. 

Catalan.  In  the  Museum  at  Vich. 

XV  Century.   Height  17  in. 


slashed  and  hammered  his  central  pricket  out  into  the 
lily  form  already  seen  in  the  crestings  of  the  Barce- 
lona rejas;  down  in  the  towns,  where  there  is  more 
suspicion  of  French  or  Flemish  influence,  the  crown 
form  of  Figure  86  was  most  in  vogue.  This  shape, 
very  large  and  without  any  central  standard,  was 
also  made  to  hang  from  the  ceiling  by  massive  chains, 


64        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 


and  is  the  prototype  of  many  modern  pendant  chan- 
deliers in  brass  and  bronze.  Among  smaller  pieces 
in  the  Vich  Museum,  known  as  candeleros  de  mesa,  a 
number  bear  traces  of  having  been  gilded;  this  was 


FIG.  85. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  CAN- 
DELABRA. 
Catalan.  In  the  Museum  at  Vich. 

XIII  Century. 
Height  5  ft.  6  in. 


FIG.  86. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  CAN- 
DELABRA. 

Catalan.  I  n  the  Museum  at  Vich. 
XV  Century. 
Height  5  ft. 


done  not  only  to  produce  a  rich  effect  but  also  to  make 
rusting  impossible.  In  Aragon,  as  late  as  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  tall  form  of  Figure  87  was  still 
plentifully  produced,  but  with  the  difference  that  the 
central  stem  was  generally  twisted  —  a  peculiarity 
seldom  met  with  outside  this  province.  Hacheros, 


FIG.  76.     LOCK  AND   HASP. 

Elaborate  Mudejar  design.     XVII  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Extreme  width  of  hasp  14  in.        No.  114. 


GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        65 

or  torch  holders,  were  similar  to  candeleros,  but  with- 
out feet.  Attached  permanently  to  the  wall  was 
another  type  of  torch  holder  —  the  stiff  forearm  with 
clenched  fist  grasping  a  socket. 

Of  as  widespread  use  as  the  candlestick  from  which 
the  interior  was  lighted  was  the  bra%ero  by  which  it 
was  heated  —  or  rather,  by  which  the  icy,  vault-like 
atmosphere  of  stone  dwellings  was  slightly  mitigated. 
For  the  Spanish  brazier  the  classic  tripod  form  was 
not  favored;  instead,  a  circular  or  polygonal  table- 
like standard  with  an  opening  in  the  top  to  receive 


FIG.  89.    BRAZIER  ON  WHEELS. 
Catalan.    XIV  Century. 

the  dish  of  charcoal  was  used.  The  more  prosperous 
Spanish  families  had  a  two-storied  affair  accomodat- 
ing  a  chafing  dish  below  for  foot- warm  ing  and  an  up- 
per one  for  the  hands.  This  type  was  usually  of 
generous  circumference,  so  that  it  was  possible  for 
several  people  to  draw  up  a  chair  to  it  as  at  table. 
Not  always  was  the  entire  frame  of  iron;  more  often 
it  was  of  wood,  rimmed  or  entirely  covered  with  sheet 
metal  fastened  down  with  decorative  nails.  Figure 
88  in  the  Hispanic  Society's  collection  is  an  excellent 


66        GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND   UTENSILS 

example  of  the  all-iron  stand,  and  dates  from  the 
early  seventeenth  century;  its  additional  iron  sup- 
ports of  the  foot-rest,  between  the  four  legs,  leave 
no  doubt  as  to  whether  this  lower  feature  was  util- 
ized. Far  more  numerous  were  the  low  brazeros  with 
one  dish  set  in  a  small  stand  of  solid  wood  or  a  skele- 
ton stand  of  iron.  These  were  either  left  on  the  floor 


FIG.  90.     IRON  FIRE-DOG. 
Catalan.    XV  Century. 

or  lifted  on  the  table,  and  still  form  the  only  heating 
apparatus  in  rural  Spain. 

A  style  of  Spanish  brazier  but  little  seen  to-day 
is  the  rectangular  receptacle  mounted  on  wheels  and 
pulled  about,  from  which  the  altar  boys  filled  their 
incense  holders.  It  was  used  mostly  in  the  chilly 


FIG.  77.    CHEST   HASP. 

Late  XVI  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  16  in.        No.  129. 

FIG.  78.     CHEST   HASP. 

Typical  of  the  XVI I  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  12  in.        No.  127. 
FIG.  79.    CHEST   HASP. 

Typical  of  the  XVII  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Length  18  in.        No.  119. 


GOTHIC   HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS        67 

vestry-rooms  of  churches.  Figure  89  is  an  example 
of  one  of  these  Catalan  grates  or  cribs  of  the  four- 
teenth century  belonging  to  Barcelona  Cathedral. 

Owing  to  the  general  absence  of  chimneys  in  Span- 
ish houses,  Gothic  hearth  accessories,  demanded  so 


FIG.  91.    GUARD  AND  FIRE-DOGS. 
Museo  del  Greco,  Toledo. 

plentifully  from  French  and  English  smiths,  were 
practically  unknown  except  in  Catalonia.  Even  there 
the  chimney  was  rare,  while  in  the  rest  of  Spain  very 
few  palaces  were  furnished  with  it  until  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  the  Louvre  is  a  Spanish  fire  screen,  purely 
Flemish  in  character  in  its  five  pierced  Gothic  panels, 
but  with  a  Mudejar  cresting  and  Castilian  turrets  at 


68      GOTHIC  HARDWARE  AND  UTENSILS 

the  base,  Figure  91  shows  a  beautiful  Renaissance 
chimney-piece  from  the  house  of  the  painter  El  Greco 
in  Toledo.  The  broad  iron  guard  of  no  particular 
epoch  is  nevertheless  interesting  with  its  tall  twisted 
end  supports,  opening  out  to  hold  ladles  or  other 
kitchen  utensils,  for  to  this  day  the  Spanish  meal  is 
prepared  at  the  one  and  only  fireplace  in  the  house. 


FIG.  81.    ARGON,  OR  TRUNK  WITH  IRON  FITTINGS 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Length  4  ft.  2  in.,  height  2  ft. 


FIG.  82.     SMALL  LEATHER  STRONG  BOX. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Length  17  in.,  height  11>£  in. 


u 

5 

fe       2  | 

o      '£  x 


H  ^ 

Z  1*°     . 

"^  Q_>      ^^     ^ 

„  U  "S  — 


O 


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CO 


Q  « 

X  o     . 

^  '£  "2 

•^  n  k    \TJ 

U 


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u 


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IV 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RENAISSANCE 

REJA 

SPINDLES  AND  COLONNETTES 

THAT  the  term  Plateresque  was  chosen  to 
designate  early  Spanish  Renaissance  archi- 
tecture because  it  was  ornamented  in  the 
minute  manner  of  the  silversmith's  (or  platero's) 
art,  would  in  itself  indicate  that  metal  work  was  both 
popular  and  respected  at  the  time.  The  influence  of 
fifteenth  century  Italian  art  penetrated  into  Spain 
about  1500,  the  first  Plateresque  buildings  being  the 
hospitals  in  Toledo  and  in  Santiago  which  Enrique 
de  Egas  of  Flanders  built.  As  Gothic  was  in  a  thriv- 
ing state  when  rich  ecclesiastics  began  importing  the 
Renaissance,  it  did  not  immediately  succumb  to  the 
new  style.  Gothic  buildings  continued  to  be  erected, 
and  those  in  Renaissance  still  borrowed  many  Gothic 
features;  the  result  was  one  of  charm  and  novelty. 
This  is  especially  true  in  the  decorative  accessories 
where  some  very  effective  hybrid  forms  may  be  en- 
countered. That  it  was  the  superficial  side  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance  that  appealed  most  to  the  Span- 
iards was  natural  for  they  had  had  long  association 
with  Moorish  art,  which,  as  has  been  explained,  was 
ornamental  rather  than  structural.  Wherever  Span- 
ish Renaissance  is  encountered  it  is  invariably  sump- 


70     DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA 

tuous,  for  Spain  in  this  century  enjoyed  an  unprece- 
dented expansion  of  wealth,  power,  and  territory; 
and  as  the  activity  of  the  smith  generally  reflected  the 
condition  of  his  country,  Spanish  ironwork  became  a 
thing  of  unsurpassed  grandeur.  It  remained  largely 
Gotico-florido  during  the  beginning  of  the  Renais- 
sance or  Plateresque  period;  but  when,  after  a  time, 
the  new  style  dominated  with  its  rich  architectural 
treatments  and  its  unhesitating  use  of  the  human 
figure  (previously  rare  in  iron),  the  smith  became  a 
magician.  What  he  now  produced  was,  to  quote  the 
great  English  authority,  J.  Starkie  Gardner,  "of  so 
grand  and  impressive  a  character  as  to  confound  all 
our  previous  conceptions  of  the  capabilities  of  the 
material.  The  limits  that  its  stubborn  nature  and 
the  technical  difficulties  of  the  craft  seem  to  im- 
pose are  disregarded  and,  in  contemplating  the  co- 
lossal rejas  in  the  great  Spanish  cathedrals,  it  is 
hard  to  realize  that  effects  in  iron  must  be  got 
swiftly  by  the  hammer  and  punch  while  the  iron  is 
hot,  or  tediously  by  the  file,  chisel,  and  drill  while  it  is 
cold." 

The  adoption  of  the  Renaissance  spindle  as  the 
upright  member  has  already  been  mentioned  under 
the  heading  "  Development  of  the  Vertical  Bar." 
This  spindle  was  not  the  result  of  a  gradual  evolution 
of  form,  but  suddenly  appears  as  a  perfected  unit  in 
the  reja,  the  only  difference  between  the  earliest  and 
latest  examples  being  in  the  amount  of  ornament 
lavished  on  them.  "The  happy  idea  of  the  replace- 
ment of  plain  or  twisted  rectangular  bars  by  spindled 


FIG.  92.     RENAISSANCE   BAND   IN    REPOUSSE". 

Perforated.      Early  XVI  Century.      Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Width  5  in.        No.  157. 


FIG.  93.     RENAISSANCE   BAND   IN    REPOUSSE. 

XVI  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Width  6  in.        No.  148. 


FIG.  94.     RENAISSANCE   BAND   IN    REPOUSSE. 

Middle  XVI  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Width  6  in.         No.  146. 


FIG.  95.     RENAISSANCE   BAND   IN    REPOUSSE*. 

Late  XVI  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Width  7  in.        No.  144. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA     71 

balusters,  which  led  to  such  important  departures, 
must  evidently  have  been  an  individual  idea,  due, 
no  doubt,  to  one  of  the  great  masters  who  changed 
their  style  with  the  times,  like  Friar  Frances  of  Sala- 
manca." (J.  Starkie  Gardner.)  The  spindle,  no 
matter  what  its  dimensions,  was  always  forged  from 
the  solid;  the  longest  ones  weighed  from  two  hundred 
and  fifty  to  three  hundred  pounds.  It  was  made, 
presumably,  by  beating  out  a  bar  of  the  required 
length,  and  then  in  order  to  obtain  the  proper  section, 
certain  portions  were  diminished  in  diameter  by  ex- 
cessive beating  and  the  greater  diameter  was  secured 
by  the  welding  of  additional  metal,  a  feat  which  can 
be  accomplished  in  iron  only.  Besides  the  great 
muscular  effort  of  welding  together  so  many  pieces, 
the  spindle  required  infinite  skill  and  patience  to 
avoid  a  ragged  unsightly  joining.  The  spindle  was 
further  worked  with  careful  regard  to  perfect  sym- 
metry, until  it  became  in  the  latest  days  almost  as 
mechanically  perfect  as  the  turned  baluster.  A 
graceful  outline  alone  did  not  long  content  the  rejero, 
for  he  soon  set  to  work  to  devise  some  sort  of  sur- 
face decoration  for  his  new  form,  and  decided  to  en- 
velop the  bulging  portion  with  leaf  forms  chiseled 
while  cold.  This  treatment  was  at  first  crude,  as  in 
the  separate  spindles,  Nos.  165,  166,  167,  and  168  in 
the  Hispanic  collection,  but  later  it  acquired  all  the 
graceful  modeling  of  sheet  repousse  work  and  marked 
the  decorative  climax  of  the  spindle.  Afterwards 
when  all  restraint  was  lost  and  the  foliated  enrich- 
ments almost  covered  the  entire  length  and  were 


72     DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA 

heavily  gilded  besides,  the  usual  weakening  effect  of 
over-ornamentation  is  perceptible,  as  in  the  door 
reja  of  the  library  of  Salamanca  University  (Figure 
115). 

Another  innovation  in  vertical  members  of  rejas 
was  the  pilaster  or  column.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  in  the  Gothic  Barcelona  grilles  no  one  upright 
received  any  special  accentuation,  not  even  the  end 
bars;  for  the  featuring  of  certain  motifs  and  members 
is  a  purely  Renaissance  idea.  We  see  it  first  prac- 
ticed in  the  attenuated  pilasters  of  the  Siguenza  ex- 
ample (Figure  97),  which  are  used  to  frame  the  gates 
within  the  reja  and  are  carried  on  clear  to  the  top. 
Like  all  early  pilasters  they  are  solid,  and  in  this  case 
about  three  inches  square,  and  their  four  sides  chiseled 
with  Renaissance  ornament.  From  this  modest  be- 
ginning the  pilaster  grew  into  the  massive  proportions 
of  the  square  column  seen  in  the  detail  from  Granada 
(Figure  25).  The  massiveness  here  was,  however, 
merely  simulated,  for  the  square  column  was  in  reality 
a  stout  oaken  core,  sheathed  in  iron  plates;  but  its 
proportions  served  nevertheless  to  give  great  archi- 
tectural emphasis  to  the  whole.  Columns,  large  or 
small,  were  generally  of  the  Corinthian  order  since  its 
attenuation  and  ornamentation  were  best  adapted  to 
iron.  In  no  sense  was  it  a  mere  copy  of  stone  Corin- 
thian, but  was  interpreted  in  the  spirit  of  metal,  from 
which  it  drew  a  sympathetic  response  which  the  iron- 
workers of  the  eighteenth  century  classic  revival  in 
England  and  France  failed  utterly  to  obtain.  On 
the  larger  iron-cased  Spanish  column  all  the  popular 


FIG.  96.     NAVE  OF   BURGOS  CATHEDRAL. 
Showing  the  importance  of  the  reja  in  Spanish  churches. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  RENAISSANCE   REJA     73 

forms  of  Renaissance  decoration  may  be  found  em- 
bossed. The  work  was  extremely  delicate  in  detail 
and  shows  that,  if  the  artizan  were  not  actually  a 
silversmith,  he  was  at  least  far  more  conversant  with 
orfemerie  than  with  the  vanishing  methods  of  iron 
smithing.  This  fact  is  again  apparent  in  the  intro- 
duction of  many  finely  modeled  medallion  portraits 
in  repousse  (frieze  of  Toledo  coro  reja,  Figure  100); 
even  large  compositions  were  executed  by  the  same 
process  as  may  be  seen  in  Figure  102. 

OTHER   RENAISSANCE  FEATURES 

Along  with  the  foregoing,  the  extensive  use  of  her- 
aldry, of  broad  ornamented  friezes,  and  of  the  human 
figure  complete  the  most  salient  additions-  in  Renais- 
sance ironwork.  Armorial  bearings  were  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  Gotico-florido  period.  Renais- 
sance rejeros  developed  them  into  a  more  highly  im- 
portant motif.  While  the  grille  still  remained  of 
medium  height,  that  is  under  twenty-five  feet,  the 
blazon  of  its  donor  occupied  the  center  of  the  crest- 
ing; but  later  when  the  whole  composition  grew  more 
lofty,  it  was  dropped  down  into  the  body  of  the  grille. 
Coats  of  arms  were  colored  and  gilded  (see  page  38), 
a  treatment  carried  to  a  point  of  great  magnificence 
in  the  detail  of  the  reja  in  the  Royal  Chapel  at  Gra- 
nada (Figure  105). 

The  introduction  of  an  ornamental  horizontal 
member  to  break  up  the  severe  verticality  of  the 
early  Gothic  reja  has  already  been  discussed.  In 
Renaissance  days  not  merely  one,  but  two  or  three  of 


74     DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA 

these  made  their  appearance  in  the  same  composition 
and  assumed  the  importance  of  a  frieze,  thus  respond- 
ing to  the  increased  height  and  importance  of  the 
verticals  (Figure  101).  In  Gothic  days  bands  had 
generally  been  of  open  work;  those  now  under  con- 
sideration were  more  often  solid  and  beaten  in  re-» 
pousse.  Figures  92  to  95  are  examples  taken  from 
small  rejas.  The  ornamented  band  was  not  confined 
to  the  reja  but  was  used  in  diminutive  scale  and 
beautifully  worked  on  chests  and  caskets. 

The  human  figure  is  seen  everywhere  in  Renais- 
sance ironwork,  a  profusion  which  may  be  explained 
as  a  reaction  against  the  ban  put  upon  its  use  in  art 
by  the  Moors.  George  Street,  in  the  description  al- 
ready cited  of  the  Pamplona  Gothic  grille,  marvels 
at  the  facility  with  which  the  figures  "are  all  elabo- 
rately hammered  up  out  of  the  solid."  But  these 
were  of  minute  size  —  about  the  same  as  seen  on 
Gothic  knockers  —  and  were  so  rarely  attempted  in 
that  period  that  they  may  well  have  astonished  Street 
who,  being  interested  only  in  Gothic,  did  not  examine 
the  really  startling  productions  of  later  days  when 
human  figures  "are  not  merely  introduced  singly  or 
in  pairs,  but  in  multitudes;  and  the  master  ironworkers 
have  not  hesitated  to  attempt  even  the  portrayal  of 
scenes  and  historical  events.  The  character  and  exe- 
cution of  this  figure  work  make  it  impossible  to  be- 
lieve that  those  who  produced  it  were  only  smiths, 
and  we  find,  in  fact,  that  the  masters  who  signed  their 
names  to  such  magnificent  productions  are  spoken  of 
by  contemporaries  as  sculptors  and  architects  and  were 


FIG.  97.     REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA   DE  SANTA   LIBRADA. 
Siguenza  Cathedral.     Early  XVI  Century. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA     75 

in  two  or  three  instances  in  holy  orders.  They  were 
indeed  artists  of  the  highest  rank." 

This  extraordinary  figure  work,  however,  was  not 
always  forged  from  the  solid;  for  aside  from  the  ques- 
tion of  labor,  its  weight  alone  when  posed  in  a  crest- 
ing would  have  made  it  impracticable.  It  was  there- 
fore beaten  out  of  two  thin  sheets  of  iron,  one  the  front 
and  one  the  back,  and  these  riveted  together  to  form 
the  round,  as  may  be  detected  in  the  amorini  of  the 
Casa  Pilatos  reja  (Figure  119).  This  particular  kind 
of  repousse  work  required  great  skill  to  maintain 
uniform  thickness  in  the  modeled  sheet  of  metal  — 
a  process  known  as  "moving  the  metal  along"  by 
blows  in  such  a  way  that  the  greatest  projection  re- 
quired by  the  patterning  should  be  of  the  same  thick- 
ness as  its  lowest  point  of  relief.  This  special  knack 
is  practically  lost  to-day. 

Italy,  home  of  the  Renaissance,  produced  but  little 
ironwork  in  that  great  period,  and  nothing  like  the 
same  understanding  of  architecturalizing  it  was  ever 
grasped  by  her  artizans.  Because  a  few  smaller  ob- 
jects, notably  the  Strozzi  lanterns  in  Florence,  show  a 
glimpse  of  it,  and  because  in  this  last  are  to  be  seen 
"cornices,  columns  and  capitals  in  iron,"  Vasari  wrote 
enthusiastically  that  its  artificer  "was  without  an 
equal  in  the  past  and  probably  not  to  be  excelled  in 
the  future."  Had  this  appreciative  biographer  lived 
in  Spain  where  the  works  which  excelled  the  Strozzi 
lanterns  were  so  numerous,  he  would  have  left  us 
volumes  concerning  the  Spanish  rejeros.  As  it  is, 
however,  their  names  are  mostly  unknown.  From  the 


76     DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA 

"Diccionario  de  los  Artifices  Sevillanos"  by  Gestoso 
y  Perez,  we  learn  the  names  of  a  very  few.  Scanning 
these,  one  finds  the  rejeros  were  often  silversmiths, 
armorers  and  architects  as  well.  Even  without  much 
data  on  the  subject,  a  critic  could  not  but  feel  that 
they  were  artists  of  broad  training,  for  in  every 
important  work  we  find,  as  in  the  best  work  of  any 
medium,  constructiveness  paramount  and  ornamen- 
tation subservient.  It  is  recorded  that  several  of 
these  Renaissance  rejas  were  felt  to  be  so  important 
that  the  builder  was  chosen  by  competition  as  in 
architectural  works;  and  that  elaborate  drawings  and 
even  complete  models  in  wood  had  to  be  prepared. 
Our  knowledge  of  these  conditions,  scant  though  it 
is,  enables  us  to  understand  the  excellences  in  their 
designing. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  Renaissance  was 
brought  into  Spain  at  a  moment  of  great  national 
expansion.  Granada  had  fallen  and  all  Spain  was 
Christian.  New  churches  were  built  and  in  these, 
and  also  in  the  old  thirteenth  century  Gothic  crea- 
tions of  Fernando  el  Santo,  the  noble  families  of  the 
land  vied  with  each  other  in  dedicating  and  furnishing 
special  sepulchral  chapels  which,  containing  magnifi- 
cent tombs  and  costly  offerings,  necessitated  the  erec- 
tion of  adequate  rejas.  Throughout  the  sixteenth 
century  there  was  no  busier  artizan  in  all  Spain  than 
the  rejero.  Besides  religious  zeal,  another  stimulus 
was  given  him  by  the  important  decision  of  the  Span- 
ish clergy  to  make  a  change  in  the  interior  arrange- 
ment of  their  churches,  this  change  being  the  removal 


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DEVELOPMENT  OF  RENAISSANCE   REJA     77 

of  the  priests'  choir  (coro)  from  the  east  end  down 
into  the  nave  of  the  cathedral,  where  it  faced  the  high 
altar  (altar  mayor  or  capilla  mayor).  This  was  an 
endeavor  to  get  back  to  the  arrangement  of  the  early 
Christian  basilica  as  can  be  still  seen  in  San  Clemente 
in  Rome.  The  change,  inaugurated  in  Spain  in  the 
early  sixteenth  century,  placed  the  coro  where  it 
blocked  up  the  nave  in  a  way  that  must  have  dis- 
tressed the  architect,  but  which  gave  a  great  oppor- 
tunity to  the  rejero;  for  the  coro  reja,  now  opposite 
to  that  of  the  altar  mayor,  was  made  to  correspond 
to  it  in  height  and  grandeur.  Those  of  the  side  chapels 
were  but  little  less  imposing,  and  in  the  case  of  certain 
noted  families  like  the  Constable  of  Castile's,  their 
chapel  reja  even  surpasses  that  of  the  high  altar. 
Figure  96,  merely  a  corner  glimpse  of  the  vast  Cathe- 
dral of  Burgos,  shows  how  reja  followed  reja  in  the 
great  Spanish  churches. 

In  reja-making,  as  in  architecture,  the  transition 
from  Gothic  to  Plateresque  was  gradual;  but  the 
architect  soon  outstripped  the  ironworker,  and  build- 
ings of  purest  Renaissance  were  being  erected  while 
the  ironworker  was  still  experimenting  with  tentative 
Renaissance  ornament.  There  was,  however,  this 
difference;  that  the  architect  received  his  forms  fully 
developed  from  Italy,  whereas  the  rejero,  having  no 
Italian  prototype  in  iron  to  study,  needed  time  to 
work  out  his  problems.  Whatever  he  grasped  of  the 
new  art  was  first  expressed  in  the  ornament  rather 
than  the  form  of  the  reja;  so  that  along  with  twisted 
Gothic  bars  and  the  simplest  horizontal  members,  we 


78     DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA 

find  classic  details  such  as  amorini,  palmettes,  wreaths, 
festoons,  shells,  and  egg-and-dart  mouldings,  all  crudely 
worked  at  first. 

One  of  the  first  difficulties  that  confront  artizans 
in  the  working  out  of  any  new  style  is  the  lack 
of  appropriate  tools.  As  an  art  develops  through 
experience  so  does  the  fashioning  of  adequate  tools. 
The  new  details  practiced  in  the  Renaissance  — 
amorini,  arabesques,  and  floral  forms  —  were  vastly 
different  from  the  geometric  perforations  of  the  Gothic, 
and  intricate  though  these  last  were,  the  tools  required 
for  them  would  not  suffice  for  the  new  forms.  The 
ironworker,  with  such  tools  as  he  had  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Renaissance  period,  roughed  out  the  patterns 
while  the  iron  was  still  hot,  and  afterward,  when  the 
metal  was  cold,  went  over  it  with  finer  tools  to  pick 
out  the  detail.  But  these  first  attempts  were  crude, 
and  examples  are  often  found  in  the  transitional  period 
where  wonderful  facility  is  exhibited  in  the  execution 
of  some  rich  flamboyant  ornamentation,  while  simpler 
Renaissance  forms  in  the  same  grille  and  undoubtedly 
by  the  same  man  are  worked  with  childish  awkward- 
ness, due  as  much  to  lack  of  proper  tools  as  to  lack 
of  experience.  As  these  were  perfected  the  execution 
lost  somewhat  in  charm  until  to-day,  with  manifold 
and  over- perfected  implements,  a  cold  precision  is  the 
inevitable  result.  To  demonstrate  the  truth  of  this 
the  modern  plasterer's  equipment  was  recently  taken 
away  from  a  group  of  workmen  and  the  Elizabethan 
kit  handed  them  instead.  With  this  they  were  asked 
to  do  their  best.  The  finished  work,  offered  by 


FIG.  101.     REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA  MAYOR. 
Sevilla  Cathedral.     1518-33. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   RENAISSANCE   REJA     79 

them  with  many  an  apology,  savored  of  much  of  the 
charm  of  early  English  plastering  and  was  thoroughly 
satisfactory.  The  same  experiment  might  be  profi- 
tably tried  on  the  modern  ironworker. 


V 

RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

TO  follow  chronologically  the  evolution  or  even 
the  erecting  of  important  Renaissance  rejas 
would  be  impossible,  not  only  because  cathe- 
dral records  are  hard  to  get  at  but  because  the  evo- 
lution was  not  logical.  In  certain  great  centers  of 
progress  it  went  ahead  rapidly;  in  remoter  spots 
where,  nevertheless,  chapels  and  rejas  were  built  with 
equal  devotion,  the  new  style  came  late  and  only 
partially.  It  will  suffice  to  mention  a  certain  number 
of  the  larger  cities  where  reja-making  was  carried  on 
most  vigorously  and  to  give  a  few  examples  from 
each. 

SIGtJENZA,  LEON,  TARRAGONA 

In  Siguenza  Cathedral,  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
late  Romanesque  structures  in  Spain,  there  is  much 
early  Renaissance  ironwork;  this  because  the  bishop 
holding  the  see  in  the  early  sixteenth  century  added  a 
late  Gothic  cloister  and,  in  the  body  of  the  cathedral 
itself,  some  fine  Renaissance  chapels.  Two  of  the 
cloister  rejas  have  already  been  mentioned  as  illus- 
trating Gotico-florido  (Figures  31  and  32).  That  of 
the  chapel  of  Santa  Librada  in  the  transept  of  the 
cathedral  may  be  quoted  as  a  very  early  Renaissance 
example  (Figure  97).  Surrounded  as  it  is  by  Plat- 


FIG.  103.     REJA  OF  THE  CORO. 
Sevilla  Cathedral.    1519. 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  81 

eresque  stonework,  it  bears  out  the  remark  previously 
made  that  the  architect  was  more  advanced  in  the 
new  forms  than  the  ironworker.  In  the  stonework 
both  ornamentation  and  structural  details  such  as 
the  arch,  impost,  and  spandrel,  are  fully  developed; 
while  in  the  reja  the  form  is  still  medieval,  and, 
viewed  from  a  distance  in  the  dim  interior  where 
its  new  surface  decoration  is  not  discernible,  it  gives 
every  indication  of  belonging  to  the  earlier  period; 
but  near  at  hand,  the  little  square  columns  flanking 
the  gate  (which  in  this  instance  are  solid)  are  seen  to 
be  covered  with  Renaissance  arabesques,  and  to  have 
an  appropriate  base  although  not  developed  suffi- 
ciently to  have  a  cap.  In  the  cresting  are  found, 
rather  bluntly  worked  out,  dolphins  and  candelabras, 
so  much  in  vogue  later  during  the  High  Renaissance; 
while  more  Italian  details  may  be  seen  in  the  horizontal 
bands,  still  flat  and  unmoulded.  Aside  from  the 
foregoing  superficial  Italian  treatment,  the  structural 
elements  are  the  same  as  in  work  done  a  hundred  years 
before.  Within  this  chapel  the  much  venerated  Santa 
Librada  lies  in  a  marble  tomb  erected  in  1530  by 
Bishop  Fadrique  de  Portugal;  this  tomb  is  railed  off 
by  a  beautiful  low  iron  screen,  about  eight  feet  high, 
which  has  all  the  early  Renaissance  character  of  the 
larger  work  just  described,  and  was  probably  made 
by  the  same  unknown  rejero. 

In  Leon  Cathedral,  at  the  Puerta  del  Cardo  (Fig- 
ure 98)  is  another  reja  with  Gothic  and  Renaissance 
details  interspersed,  but  framed  this  time  in  very  late 
Gothic  stonework.  In  the  bases  of  the  four  shortened 


82  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

spindles  one  sees  Renaissance  pedestals  filled  with 
pure  flamboyant  tracery.  The  spindles  of  this  reja 
have  not  yet  acquired  a  capital,  but  instead  are 
crowned  by  a  curious  little  scroll  indicative  of  later- 
day  caps  and  volutes.  In  the  cloister  chapel  of  Santa 
Magdalena  at  Tarragona  (Figure  99),  is  a  simple  reja 
whose  featured  lockplate  and  rather  naive  cresting 
attract  attention  as  indicating  touches  of  the  new 
style. 

TOLEDO 

In  Toledo,  which  held  one  of  the  three  grand  Gothic 
cathedrals  of  Spain  and  whose  bishop  was  primate 
of  the  whole  kingdom,  the  adornment  of  the  church 
was  naturally  lavish  and  unceasing,  and  records  of  it 
are  comparatively  copious.  Among  the  side  chapels 
and  subsidiary  buildings  with  notable  rejas  may  be 
mentioned  the  vestry  with  one  at  the  entrance  made  in 
1494  by  "El  Maestro  Juan  Frances,  maestro  mayor 
de  las  armas  de  hierro  en  Espafia;"  and  the  Capilla 
Mozarabe  in  the  southwest  tower  with  another  by 
the  same  armorer  (maestro  de  armas);  the  sagrario 
with  chapel  rejas  by  Bartolome  Rodiguez,  Luis  de 
Penafiel,  and  Francisco  de  Silva;  the  Capilla  de  los 
Reyes  Nuevos,  with  a  screen  by  Domingo  de  Cespe- 
des  who  also  made  the  one  for  the  baptistry  and  for 
the  Capilla  de  Reyes  Viejos  in  1529.  Another  of  his 
works,  that  for  the  coro,  is  illustrated  in  Figure  100. 
This  rejero,  called  "  El  Maestre  Domingo,"  was  born 
near  Toledo  but  there  is  no  record  of  where  he  re- 
ceived his  training;  his  ironwork,  however,  shows  him 


FIG.  104.     REJA   IN   THE  CAPILLA   REAL. 
Granada.     1523. 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH   REJAS  83 

to  have  imbibed  Renaissance  ideas  and  to  have  been 
conversant  with  the  allied  arts  of  architecture  and 
sculpture.  One  of  his  assistants  is  known  to  have 
been  Francisco  Bravo. 

In  the  Cespedes  reja  illustrated,  which  is  twenty- 
five  feet  high,  his  only  deviation  from  strictly  Renais- 
sance precepts  is  the  placing  of  the  colonnette  directly 
in  the  middle,  thus  creating  an  even  number  of  bays. 
Otherwise  the  composition  is  built  up  on  purely  or- 
thodox principles;  —  base  or  pedestal,  columns,  en- 
tablature, and  cresting.  The  spindle  baluster  only  is 
used,  though  the  same  Domingo  had  made  Gothic 
twisted  bars  for  several  of  the  side  chapels.  The 
spindles  are  very  lofty  and  are  uninterrupted  by  any 
horizontal  motif  until  they  reach  the  frieze  below  the 
cresting.  A  combination  of  short  spindles  and  me- 
dallion portraits  hammered  in  repousse  make  up  the 
unusually  interesting  frieze;  while  the  cresting,  which 
is  composed  of  candelabra,  grotesques,  heraldic  orna- 
ment, and  foliation,  shows  an  exquisite  feeling  for 
Renaissance.  Perhaps  the  greatest  achievement  in 
the  reja  might  be  considered  the  seven  large  colon- 
nettes,  for  they  are  worked  from  the  solid  with  a  deli- 
cacy that  one  would  hardly  believe  possible  in  iron. 
This  whole  reja  was  silvered  and  gilded  and  must 
have  been  most  sumptuous  and  costly;  but  when 
Napoleon's  plundering  troops  were  reported  approach- 
ing the  city,  the  silver  was  hidden  under  a  coat  of 
black  paint  which  has  never  been  removed.  Coro 
and  altar  mayor  were  both  given  out  to  competition 
in  1540  by  the  Cathedral  Chapter.  Alonzo  de  Covar- 


84  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

rubias,  one  of  the  greatest  Renaissance  architects, 
acted  as  adviser  to  the  chapter  and  chose  Domingo's 
design  for  the  coro  and  Francisco  de  Villalpando's 
for  the  altar.  Both  works  were  finished  in  1549,  their 
making  having  kept  a  tribe  of  smiths  busy  for  seven 
years.  It  is  on  record  that  Domingo  made  a  complete 
model  in  wood  before  starting  his  work. 

The  other  successful  competitor,  Villalpando  (maker 
of  the  bronze  doors  of  the  Puerta  de  los  Leones),  cre- 
ated for  the  capilla  mayor  a  reja  as  magnificent  as 
Domingo's  but  inferior  in  design  and  somewhat  too 
exuberant  in  spirit  for  such  monumentality.  How- 
ever, despite  the  incongruity  and  confusion  of  the 
detail,  much  of  it  is  very  beautifully  wrought.  The 
whole  is  crowned  by  a  colossal  crucifix  once  silvered 
and  gilded.  This  same  artist  made  the  two  beautiful 
Renaissance  pulpits  in  bronze  at  either  side  of  the 
capilla  mayor,  and  also  the  charming  little  railing 
enclosing  the  celebrated  "Virgen  de  la  Blanca"  within 
the  coro.  That  he  was  well  versed  in  the  Italian  art 
and  language  is  proved  by  his  having  translated  into 
Spanish  Serlio's  great  work  on  architecture. 

SEVILLA 

Sevilla  Cathedral,  the  largest  Gothic  church  in 
Christendom  and  one  of  the  richest,  contains,  natu- 
rally, an  abundance  of  fine  rejeria.  The  church  was 
built  throughout  the  fifteenth  century  and  its  rejas, 
added  after  the  structure  was  completed,  are  therefore 
Renaissance.  There  is  even  one,  that  of  the  Capilla 
Real,  finished  as  late  as  1773.  Of  the  numerous 


FIG.  105.    ARMS  OF   FERDINAND  AND   ISABELLA 

AND  THEIR  GRANDSON   CHARLES  V. 

Reja  in  the  Capilla  Real,  Granada.    1523. 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  85 

examples  enclosing  side  chapels  those  to  the  Capillas 
de  la  Gamba  and  de  la  AntigUa  are  very  beautiful, 
with  armorial  bearings  and  figure  work  representing 
the  events  after  which  the  chapels  are  named.  Even 
finer  are  those  of  the  Conception  and  the  Anuncia- 
cion.  The  vestry  reja  was  made  by  Fernando  Prieto 
in  1510;  and  that  of  the  library  of  the  cathedral  in 
1527  by  Pedro  de  Andino,  father  of  the  celebrated 
Cristobal.  Around  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Cervantes 
is  a  magnificent  verja  made  in  1537  by  Antonio  de 
Palencia  and  Juan  Delgado. 

The  high  altar,  or  capilla  mayor,  unlike  those  in 
most  Spanish  churches,  is  very  open  in  appearance 
because  of  having  rejas  instead  of  masonry  on  three 
of  its  four  sides.  These  side  screens,  while  of  great 
richness,  are  treated  subordinately  to  that  at  the 
front  and  are  the  work  of  Sancho  Munez,  a  master 
rejero  of  Cuenca  who  started  them  in  1518.  Their 
average  height  is  nearly  thirty-five  feet,  the  lower  half 
treated  with  twisted  bars  and  the  upper  with  a  series 
of  ornamental  bands.  They  are  gilded  to  accord  with 
the  capilla  mayor  and  coro.  Munez  was  helped  by 
Bartolome  of  Jaen  (of  whom  more  will  be  heard  later), 
Juan  de  Yepes,  and  Diego  de  Idrobo.  As  this  is  about 
the  time  that  Friar  Francisco  de  Salamanca  was  start- 
ing the  main  reja  of  the  same  chapel,  these  various 
rejeros,  to  judge  from  the  harmony  between  the  front 
and  sides,  must  have  collaborated  wisely. 

The  two  mightiest  Plateresque  achievements  in 
Sevilla  Cathedral  are  the  rejas  to  the  coro  and  capilla 
mayor;  the  latter  (Figure  101)  was  made  by  the 


86  RENAISSANCE   CHURCH    REJAS 

celebrated  friar  Francisco  de  Salamanca  between  1518 
and  1533.  The  composition  is  divided  horizontally 
by  elaborate  openwork  friezes  into  two  stages  and 
cresting;  and  vertically  by  well  emphasized  colon- 
nettes  into  five  bays,  the  central  being  widest  to  ac- 
commodate the  grand  double  gates.  A  feeling  of 
increased  height  is  given  to  the  reja  by  carrying  the 
colonnettes  through  with  varying  form  from  base  to 
cresting.  The  friar's  uprights  are  all  spindles  and  at 
each  side  five  of  these  are  almost  invisibly  hinged  into 
a  gate  that  gives  access  to  the  splendid  iron  pulpits. 
Both  the  friezes  are  remarkable  achievements,  the 
upper  one  especially  with  its  fine  medallions  and 
arabesques;  but  the  surpassing  portion  is  the  cresting 
which  abounds  with  angelic  figures  within  scrolls  and 
separated  from  each  other  by  tall  candelabras  in  line 
with  the  colonnettes  below.  The  center  of  the  frieze 
is  occupied  by  a  magnificent  embossed  panel  of  the 
Entombment;  the  solidity  of  this  motif  contrasts 
very  effectively  with  the  openness  of  the  rest  of  the 
work  (Figure  102). 

This  Dominican  monk-rejero  was  one  of  the  greatest 
of  Spain's  numerous  iron  artists.  He  was  at  first  a 
Carthusian,  an  inmate  of  the  monastery  of  Miraflores 
near  Burgos  which  contains  fine  late  Gothic  speci- 
mens of  his  work;  later  he  went  to  the  Chartreuse  of 
Paular  near  Segovia  where  he  made  another  splendid 
reja.  Cean  Bermudez  says,  among  interesting  details 
concerning  him,  "That  his  many  virtues  were  praised 
by  the  canons  of  Sevilla;  that  he  willingly  accepted 
from  time  to  time  wheat  instead  of  ducats;  and  that 


FIG.  107.     REJA  OF  THE  CAPILLA   DEL  CONDESTABLE. 
Burgos  Cathedral.     1523. 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH   REJAS 


87 


his  industry  was  amazing,  for  with  all  his  reja-making 
he  found  time  to  repair  the  great  clock  of  the  Giralda 
and  devise  an  ingenious  alarm  for  arousing  the  cathe- 
dral bell  ringers."  He  was  still  working  in  Sevilla  as 
late  as  1547,  having  meanwhile  been  employed  in 
Guadalupe  and  in  the  cathedral  and  university  of  his 


FIG.  102. 


PANEL  OF  THE  ENTOMBMENT,  REJA  OF  THE 
CAPILLA  MAYOR. 
Sevilla  Cathedral. 


native  city,  Salamanca.    The  Sevilla  pulpits  to  be 
described  later  are  also  by  his  hand. 

Sancho  or  Pancho  Mufiez  of  Cuenca,  who  made  the 
side  rejas  of  the  capilla  mayor,  also  made  that  of  the 
coro  in  1519  (Figure  103),  which  one  could  hardly  say 


88  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH   REJAS 

is  less  grand  than  the  friar's  work  facing  it.  Sancho's, 
although  he  never  overcame  his  predilection  for  the 
twisted  bar  beloved  of  Gothicists,  must  be  classed  as 
Plateresque.  That  he  designed  it  in  sympathy  with 
the  friar  is  evident  from  the  general  harmony  of  their 
productions.  The  actual  proportions  vary  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  tradition  that  the  high  altar  should 
have  the  grander  reja;  but  the  feeling  of  both  shows 
a  studied  agreement.  The  twisted  bars  composing 
the  body  of  the  coro  screen  are  surmounted  by  a  tier 
of  short  Renaissance  spindles;  and,  instead  of  being 
uniformly  twisted,  alternately  spiral  toward  each  other. 
Their  expanse  is  marked  off  into  five  bays  by  six-inch- 
square  pilasters  —  the  usual  wooden-core  sheathed  in 
richly  embossed  iron.  The  beautiful  little  Corinthian 
capitals  crowning  them  are  most  intricately  worked 
out,  not  along  the  lines  of  stone  Corinthian  but  into 
a  truly  wrought-iron  interpretation;  and  the  deli- 
cately twisted  volutes  are  forged  from  tongue-shaped 
pieces  as  if  rolling  themselves  unaided  like  the  sheet 
of  parchment  which  tradition  tells  us  inspired  the 
form.  Horizontal  courses  and  cornices  are  beaten 
out  of  sheet  metal  and  make,  along  with  the  pilasters, 
a  lavish  display  of  the  embosser's  skill.  They  are 
fashioned  from  metal  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  thick, 
kept  rigid  by  interior  transverse  tie-pieces.  The  gilt 
inscription  above  the  spindles  is  effectively  back- 
grounded by  vermill ion.  The  frieze  is  three  feet  high, 
composed  of  Renaissance  scrolls  and  wreaths;  and 
above  this  again  is  the  most  resplendent  portion  of 
all  —  a  cresting  representing  the  tree  of  Jesse.  Each 


I 


FIG.  108.     ESCALERA   DORADA  OR  GOLDEN 

STAIRWAY. 
Burgos  Cathedral.    1519. 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  89 

of  the  personages  composing  it  is  framed  in  a  circle  of 
foliation  and  is  a  masterpiece  of  figure-work  in  iron. 
A  facetious  innovation  in  the  cresting,  and  one  serving 
a  practical  purpose  as  well,  is  the  little  bell  frame  at 
either  end.  These  are  charming  in  design  and  exe- 
cution and  have  the  value  of  solidity  as  end  motifs  to 
such  an  imaginative  cresting.  One  of  the  quaint  de- 
tails recorded  of  Sancho  Munez's  sojourn  in  Sevilla 
is  that  he  "lived  in  the  house  of  Canon  Martin  Na- 
varro  to  whom  the  Cathedral  Chapter  regularly  paid 
his  board." 

GRANADA 

In  the  Capilla  Real,  or  Royal  Chapel,  which  com- 
municates with  Granada  Cathedral,  is  to  be  found 
one  of  the  most  sumptuous  rejas  in  all  Spain  (Figure 
104).  That  there  is  so  little  ironwork  of  artistic 
value  in  the  cathedral  itself  is  due  to  the  late  date  of 
its  erection.  It  was  started  in  1523  (after  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Capilla  Real)  and  though  consecrated  in 
1561  was  still  incomplete  at  that  date.  By  this  time 
Spain  was  growing  poor  and  rejas  were  becoming  less 
important;  but  fortunately  for  Granada  the  Royal 
Chapel,  designed  by  Enrique  de  Egas  in  1506  for  Charles 
V,  was  completed  in  time  to  give  Maestre  Bartolome 
of  Jaen  opportunity  to  build  the  reja  separating  the 
royal  monuments  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  from  the 
rest  of  the  chapel.  Appreciating  his  opportunity 
Maestre  Bartolome  designed  a  grille  of  such  stupen- 
dous proportions  that  nothing  comparable  to  it  was 
ever  attempted  elsewhere.  Two  solid  unpierced  friezes 


90  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH   REJAS 

divide  the  composition  horizontally  into  three  dimin- 
ishing stages  of  thirteen,  seven,  and  five  feet  respec- 
tively. In  the  first  of  these  the  tall  twisted  bars 
break  into  quatrefoils  and  masques  (Figure  25),  in 
the  next  into  leaf  work  and  cherubims,  and  in  the 
third  to  leaf  work  alone.  Vertically  the  screen  is 
divided  into  five  parts  by  massive  square  columns 
beautifully  embossed  and  further  adorned  in  the 
upper  stages  by  statuettes  and  canopies.  The  em- 
bossed plates,  hardly  over  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch 
thick,  are  applied  and  riveted  to  an  oak  core.  But 
the  greatest  achievement  is,  as  usual,  the  cresting, 
here  made  up  of  ten  biblical  scenes  containing  thirty 
figures  more  than  half  life  size.  It  is  a  story  in  iron 
told  as  freely  as  the  frescoist  would  have  proceeded  on 
a  given  wall  space.  A  conventional  arrangement  of 
lofty  candelabras  connected  by  rich  arabesques  finishes 
off  the  cresting  and  the  whole  is  topped  by  a  gigantic 
crucifix  with  the  Virgin  on  one  side  and  St.  John  on 
the  other.  The  arms  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  and 
of  their  grandson  Charles  V,  forming  the  painted  and 
gilded  panel  above  the  gates  (Figure  105),  may  be 
considered  the  bravura  piece  of  heraldic  ironwork  in 
Spain. 

This  rejero  has  already  been  mentioned  as  having 
been  employed  at  Sevilla;  it  is  known  also  that  he 
worked  at  Jaen  which  was  probably  his  native  place. 
It  is  recorded  that  he  had  to  petition  Charles  V  for 
sixteen  hundred  ducats  due  him  which  the  Granada 
Chapter  had  refused  to  pay.  The  royal  reja  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  finished  in  1523  but  no  details 


FIG.  109.     REJA  OF  THE  CORO. 

Palencia  Cathedral. 

Probably  1555. 


ffi 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  91 

can  be  found  as  to  the  length  of  time  spent  on  it. 
It  is  one  of  the  few  signed  works  in  iron,  its  frieze  just 
below  the  blazon  containing  in  raised  letters  the 
words:  "Maestre  Bartolome  me  fee." 

MAEST 

REBA 
RTOLO 

MEM 

EFEC 

In  the  same  chapel,  but  by  unknown  authors,  are 
other  good  rejas.  Immediately  to  the  right  of  the 
royal  reja  is  one  with  good  Plateresque  detail  but 
obviously  not  by  Maestre  Bartolome.  Here  too  the 
blazon  is  treated  in  color  and,  like  its  more  important 
neighbor,  has  this  feature  contained  in  the  body  of 
the  work  and  not,  as  was  the  general  custom  in  Renais- 
sance days,  in  the  cresting. 

BURGOS 

Burgos  Cathedral,  another  of  the  famous  Gothic 
trio  built  by  Fernando  el  Santo  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, presents  in  the  screening  of  its  fifteen  chapels 
an  impressive  array  of  rejeria.  These  cover  the  field 
from  early  Gothic  to  waning  Renaissance,  that  of  the 
coro  (Figure  96)  being  as  late  as  1602.  Figure  106 
shows  the  screen  of  the  Capilla  de  la  Presentation,  built 
probably  by  Cristobal  de  Andino  after  1520.  It  is 
a  very  typical  side-chapel  reja  built  to  conform  to 
a  rather  high  and  narrow  arch.  The  cresting,  with  a 
cardinal 's  blazon  supported  by  huge  scrolls  as  a  nu- 


92  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

cleus  of  the  design,  has  some  nice  leaf  and  repousse 
work.  In  the  candelabra-like  motifs  crowning  the 
colonnettes  the  design  and  character  of  the  work  is 
somewhat  indicative  of  the  decline  which  set  in  shortly 
after  this  date. 

Behind  the  presbytery  of  this  cathedral  opens  the 
large  Capilla  del  Condestable  commenced  in  the 
richest  Plateresque  style  for  the  Constable  Don  Pedro 
de  Velasco.  The  splendid  reja  (Figure  107)  at  its 
entrance  was  built  by  the  same  Cristobal  de  Andino, 
architect,  sculptor,  rejero,  and  silversmith,  whose  father 
has  been  mentioned  as  one  of  the  ironworkers  in  Se- 
villa  Cathedral.  Even  without  accurate  data  as  to 
Andino's  attainments,  one  glance  at  it  would  prove 
its  maker  to  have  been  an  architect.  As  in  most  of 
the  later  examples,  there  is  a  strong  domination  of 
the  horizontal  members;  —  a  preference  for  classic 
principles  as  opposed  to  Gothic.  To  give  the  compo- 
sition increased  architectural  feeling  Andino  has  in- 
troduced an  innovation  in  the  form  of  two  richly 
wrought  columns  standing  forward  of  the  general 
plane  and  making  a  total  depth  of  fifteen  inches 
framing  the  postern  gate;  while  further  depth  and 
substantiality  are  imparted  by  breaking  the  cornice 
over  the  columns  and  resting  the  floriated  candela- 
bras  of  the  second  stage  on  this  projection.  To  crown 
the  entire  composition  the  very  symbol  of  architec- 
ture, the  pediment,  has  been  chosen,  and  supporting 
it  are  two  kneeling  figures  whose  sophisticated  naivete 
might  well  be  the  envy  of  modern  artists.  The  author 
of  this  work  happens  to  be  one  of  the  several  rejeros 


FIG.  110.     REJA  OF  A  SIDE  CHAPEL. 

Cuenca  Cathedral. 
Middle  XVI  Century. 


RENAISSANCE   CHURCH    REJAS  93 

about  whom  some  personal  data  have  been  preserved. 
His  work  commanded  a  great  praise  during  his  life- 
time, for  a  contemporary  wrote  of  it:  "All  who  wish 
their  work  to  breathe  the  spirit  of  authority  and  to 
pass  without  rebuke  should  follow,  like  Cristobal 
Andino,  ancient  precept,  in  that  his  works  have  greater 
beauty  and  elegance  than  any  I  have  seen  before.  If 
this,  you  think,  be  not  the  case,  look  at  that  reja  he 
is  making  for  my  lord  the  Constable,  which  reja  is 
well  known  to  be  superior  to  all  others  in  the  king- 
dom." This  work  is  signed  under  the  pediment,  "Ab 
Andino."  Other  works  by  the  talented  Cristobal  de 
Andino  are  in  the  capilla  mayor  and  the  Capilla  de 
San  Pedro  in  Palencia  Cathedral;  also  a  peculiar  and 
extremely  architectural ized  one  in  Medina  de  Rio- 
seco,  a  small  town  between  Palencia  and  Valladolid. 
In  1540  he  had  the  disappointment  of  competing 
unsuccessfully  for  the  screens  and  pulpits  of  Toledo 
Cathedral. 

Burgos  Cathedral  contains,  besides  its  many  notable 
rejas,  another  marvel  of  the  ironworker's  art  in  the 
shape  of  its  famous  "Escalera  Dorada"  —  a  double 
flight  of  fifty-nine  steps  in  marble  and  stone,  with  a 
marvelous  wrought  iron  balustrade  richly  gilded 
(Figure  108).  The  church,  being  built  on  sloping 
ground,  has  entrances  at  various  levels,  the  northwest 
portal  being  some  twenty-five  feet  above  the  nave 
floor;  this  difference  necessitated  a  staircase  to  con- 
duct to  the  north  transept.  The  problem  was  solved 
by  building  the  Escalera  Dorada,  designed  by  Diego 
de  Siloe  in  1519  and  thought  to  have  been  executed 


94  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

by  Cristobal  de  Andino.  The  elaborate  balustrade 
wrought  in  iron  and  heavily  gilded  varies  in  design 
as  it  ascends  from  landing  to  landing.  The  lowest 
stage  consists  of  rich  balusters  or  spindles  between 
which  are  cupid  heads  and  a  dolphin  arabesque,  while 
at  the  landing  between  the  two  stages  are  the  arms  of 
Bishop  Fonseca,  donor  of  the  staircase;  the  next  flight 
has  square  posts  with  portrait  medallions  and  ara- 
besques between.  The  landing  at  the  top  projects, 
not  unlike  a  rostrum,  and  is  supported  on  a  huge 
corbel;  its  rail  is  divided  into  ten  panels,  the  two 
central  ones  contain  portraits  of  saints  enwreathed 
and  the  remaining  are  richly  decorated  with  amorini, 
wreaths,  and  scrolls.  Certainly  nothing  more  ambi- 
tious of  its  kind  was  ever  undertaken  and  one  regrets 
that  the  staircase  has  fallen  into  disuse  due  to  the 
violent  draughts  which  compelled  the  closing  of  the 
north  portal  to  which  it  conducts. 

PALENCIA 

South  of  Burgos  lies  Palencia  whose  cathedral  was 
also  enriched  by  the  works  of  Andino.  Earlier  than 
his  contributions,  however,  are  the  many  Gothic  and 
Gotico-florido  rejas  in  the  side  chapels.  These  show  a 
strong  Flemish  influence  —  a  florid  use  of  sheet  iron 
foliations  cut  and  riveted  to  their  stems  rather  than 
beaten  out  as  in  the  Spanish  manner.  This  influence 
can  be  traced  to  the  fact  that  Palencia's  bishop,  Fon- 
seca, having  been  appointed  special  ambassador  to 
the  Low  Countries  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  came 
back  laden  down  with  Flemish  tapestries  and  pictures, 


o 

a 
o 


o 


O 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  95 

and  followed  by  a  whole  train  of  Flemish  artizans. 
This  northern  influence  had  passed  away  at  the  period 
now  under  consideration,  and  the  works  of  Andino 
in  the  capilla  mayor,  and  of  Caspar  Rodriguez  in  the 
coro,  are  purest  Spanish  Renaissance.  Andino's  is 
simpler  in  composition  than  his  Burgos  work  and 
consists  of  two  tiers  of  foliated  spindles  separated  by 
repousse  bands  of  ornament  in  the  Italian  style,  while 
the  towering  cresting  is  composed  of  candelabra,  scroll- 
ing, and  the  blazon  so  popular  with  Renaissance  re- 
jeros.  It  is  on  record  that  he  made  this  reja  in  1520 
and  was  paid  fifteen  hundred  ducats  for  it  by  Dean 
Don  Gonzalo  Zapata  whose  arms  are  in  the  cresting. 
The  same  records  speak  of  a  screen  made  in  1530  for 
which  he  received  four  hundred  and  thirty  ducats, 
but  of  just  which  there  is  no  indication;  a  certain  re- 
semblance between  the  rejas  of  the  Capilla  de  San 
Pedro  and  of  the  capilla  mayor  suggests  that  both  are 
by  the  same  author.  Superior  to  the  reja  of  the  ca- 
pilla mayor  is  that  of  the  coro  (Figure  109)  by  Caspar 
Rodriguez  but  long  ascribed  to  Villalpando.  Much 
confusion  exists  as  to  the  date  of  this  piece  of  work, 
1522,  1555,  and  1561  being  variously  given.  The 
first  mentioned  may  be  read  twice  on  the  marble  base 
of  the  reja  in  an  inscription  referring  to  Adrian  VI 
who  was  in  Spain  in  1522;  but  anyone  who  has  studied 
reja-making  would  be  inclined  to  reject  1522,  as  the 
design  gives  every  indication  of  having  been  produced 
in  the  High  Renaissance.  It  is  pure  in  quality,  free 
and  knowing  in  composition,  and  decidedly  later 
than  the  reja  of  the  capilla  mayor  at  Toledo  finished 


96  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

about  1548  by  Villalpando.  A  new  feature  to  be  ob- 
served here  is  the  admirable  way  in  which  the  screen 
is  tied  in  architecturally  with  its  surroundings  by 
means  of  a  marble  parapet,  a  treatment  which  goes 
far  towards  making  the  ironwork  an  integral  part  of 
the  edifice.  A  condition  imposed  on  both  of  these 
Palencian  rejeros  was  that  the  arms  of  the  prelate 
who  donated  them  should  be  incorporated  as  a  dec- 
orative motif;  this,  along  with  the  figures  of  the  four 
evangelists  with  their  emblems,  makes  for  great  rich- 
ness. The  crowning  figures  are  of  solid  bronze  and 
the  entire  reja  is  gilt  and  painted.  Both  the  capilla 
mayor  and  the  coro  were  given  out  to  competition, 
Andino,  Villalpando,  and  Lopez  de  Urisarri  having 
competed  unsuccessfully  against  Caspar  Rodriguez. 
Another  rejero  employed  in  the  same  cathedral  was 
Juan  Relojero  who  in  1512  made  the  screen  for  the 
Capilla  de  Nuestra  Senora  de  Blanca,  donated  by  the 
Canon  Bartolome  de  Palencia,  who  paid  for  it  with 
twenty-five  thousand  maravedis  and  a  quantity  of 
grain. 

LESS   KNOWN   EXAMPLES 

Among  the  remoter  towns  which  were  important 
centers  of  ironwork  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies are  Cuenca,  Segovia,  Avila,  Guadalupe,  Oviedo, 
Osma,  Tortosa,  Plasencia,  and  numerous  others  long 
since  fallen  into  decay,  but  whose  churches  contain 
a  bewildering  array  of  rejeria;  among  towns  which 
have  not  fallen  into  decay,  but  are  making  rapid  strides 
at  modernizing  themselves,  Zaragoza,  Valencia,  Mai- 


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RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  97 

aga,  and  Cadiz  also  possess  fine  examples.  Figure 
110  illustrates  one  of  the  side  chapel  screens  from 
Cuenca,  a  town  already  mentioned  as  the  native 
place  of  the  great  rejero  Sancho  Munez,  who  in  1519 
made  the  coro  reja  in  Sevilla  Cathedral.  Another 
Mufiez  production  in  Cuenca  is  the  beautiful  "Jesse 
Screen"  back  of  the  high  altar  and  so-named  from  the 
arch-shaped  cresting  which  contains  the  tree  of  Jesse 
including  some  very  delicately  worked  figures.  The 
similarity  of  workmanship  between  this  and  Figure 
110  would  suggest  that  the  same  rejero  was  respon- 
sible for  both.  Andrew  Prentice,  the  first  English 
architect  who  went  into  Spain  to  make  a  study  of 
Spanish  Renaissance,  has  left  several  beautiful  draw- 
ings of  these  side  chapel  rejas  and  also  one  of  the 
huge  screen  of  the  capilla  mayor.  This  last  is  forty- 
five  feet  high  and  was  made  in  1517  by  Hernando 
de  Arenas.  From  its  comparatively  early  date  and 
the  history  of  the  town  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  it 
reminiscent  of  Gothic.  The  body  is  entirely  composed 
of  twisted  bars  unfeatured  except  by  the  four  thin 
pilasters.  In  these  and  in  the  horizontal  bands  Renais- 
sance asserts  itself  most  emphatically;  also  the  crest- 
ing, some  twelve  feet  high  in  itself,  is  rich  in  foliation 
of  the  new  style,  but,  like  Gothic  work,  has  no  par- 
ticular centralized  feature.  A  later  reja,  in  the  Ca- 
pilla de  los  Caballeros  of  the  same  church,  is  by  the 
same  man  and  has  the  date  1526  over  the  entrance 
gates.  In  the  nine  years  that  passed  between  its 
making  and  the  completion  of  the  capilla  mayor,  Are- 
nas had  learned  much  about  the  Renaissance,  for 


98  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS 

the  Caballeros  composition  breaks  away  from  Gothic 
regularity  and  is  interrupted  and  accentuated  in 
interesting  Renaissance  fashion. 

Segovia  was  another  town  celebrated  not  only  for 
rejas  but  for  all  sorts  of  smaller  objects  in  iron,  and 
curious  balconies  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Calle  Car- 
men. Many  local  productions  figured  in  the  famous 
collection  (now  dispersed)  of  the  Duque  de  Segovia. 
The  late  Gothic  Cathedral  has,  as  might  be  expected,  a 
number  of  good  screens.  The  one  illustrated  (Figure 
111)  is  that  of  a  small  reja  in  the  Capilla  de  Nuestra 
Senora  de  la  Piedad.  While  dating  from  the  latter 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century  it  is  still  in  the  best  taste 
and  the  griffins  in  the  cresting  are  particularly  fine; 
the  scrolls  in  the  lower  paneling  of  the  gates,  how- 
ever, are  slightly  indicative  of  the  coming  decline  in 
rejeria. 

At  Osma  there  are  the  rejas  to  the  capilla  mayor 
and  coro  made  in  1505  by  the  famous  rejero  Juan 
Frances,  as  recorded  in  the  inscription:  "This  work 
was  done  by  the  maestro,  one  Juan  Frances,  chief 
maestro  of  Toledo."  A  second  reads:  "This  work 
was  ordered  to  be  made  by  the  most  magnificent  Don 
Alonzo  de  Fonseca  in  the  year  1505."  These,  like 
much  of  the  work  of  this  rejero  in  Toledo,  are  mixed 
Gothic  and  Renaissance  in  style.  The  same  master 
made  the  reja  in  the  capilla  mayor  of  the  church  of 
San  Justo  at  Alcala  de  Henares. 

The  admirer  of  Spanish  rejeria  is  saved  the  sadden- 
ing spectacle  of  its  decline.  By  the  time  Baroque  had 
succeeded  Renaissance,  Spain  was  (fortunately  for 


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RENAISSANCE  CHURCH    REJAS  99 

its  reputation  in  ironwork)  too  poor  to  add  much 
embellishment  to  her  cathedrals.  Whatever  new 
building  was  ordered  was  calculated  to  make  a  great 
display  for  a  limited  expenditure,  as  if  thus  to  hide 
approaching  poverty.  With  such  an  object  in  view, 
the  refinement  and  dignity  of  iron  naturally  made  no 
appeal;  so  the  rejero  went  his  way  unaffected  by  the 
new  extravagances  of  style  and  made  those  latest 
rejas  which,  while  lacking  the  spontaneity  and  rich 
fancy  of  earlier  productions,  are  in  no  sense  devoid 
of  artistic  merit,  and  suggest  a  revival  of  Grecian  forms 
rather  than  Baroque.  In  domestic  and  civil  edifices, 
where  metal  accessories  on  a  small  scale  could  be 
employed,  Baroque  secured  a  foothold,  and  it  is  here, 
in  the  form  of  balustrades,  balconies,  and  smaller 
accessories,  that  one  must  look  for  examples  of  this 
period. 

The  last  church  reja  illustrated  (Figure  112)  is  from 
Plasencia  and  was  made  in  1604.  It  is  distinctly 
precise,  unemotional,  yet  extremely  dignified;  and 
while  there  is  nothing  decadent  in  it,  still  there  is 
much  that  forecasts  a  decline.  This  criticism  is  jus- 
tified by  the  lack  of  variety  in  its  motifs  and,  even 
more  noticeably,  by  the  abundance  of  severe  archi- 
tectural mouldings  which  are  merely  uninspired  copies 
from  stonework,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  link  be- 
tween the  fine  forged  work  of  earlier  days  and  mod- 
ern cast  ironwork.  In  other  words,  this  formal  and 
impressive  reja  lacks  that  indefinable  something 
called  "  touch."  It  is  the  work  of  Juan  Bautista  Celma, 
the  son,  probably,  of  the  Celma  who  made  a  beautiful 


100  RENAISSANCE  CHURCH   REJAS 

late  screen  in  the  Cathedral  del  Pilar  in  Zaragoza  in 
1579. 

Figure  113  is  a  reja  cresting  from  northern  Spain 
in  the  possession  of  the  Hispanic  Society.  It  is  not 
as  late  as  the  work  just  mentioned,  and  consists  of  a 
central  heraldic  motif  supported  by  scrolls  and  can- 
delabra. Its  workmanship  is  of  good  quality  and 
makes  it  worth  close  examination  by  those  interested 
in  sixteenth  century  methods. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  the  productions  of 
the  smith  are  a  gauge  of  the  prosperity  of  his  country. 
This  is  undeniably  the  case  with  the  almost  super- 
human feats  of  smithery  just  described.  All  were 
produced  during  Spain's  greatest  period  of  grandeur 
—  after  the  conquest  of  the  Moor  and  the  discovery 
of  the  New  World.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  iron- 
work that  the  smith  did  not  try  to  overcome;  in  fact, 
he  courted  difficulties  and  appears  to  have  actually 
reveled  in  his  work.  By  the  end  of  the  first  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century  about  every  problem  that  could 
ever  present  itself  had  been  solved;  from  then  on, 
increasingly  rich  and  imposing  effects  were  obtained 
(but  not  always  in  the  same  straightforward  way) 
until  the  erection  of  sumptuous  rejas  ceased  in  the 
early  seventeenth  century.  That  the  great  develop- 
ment of  Spanish  rejeria  was  due  to  any  interest  and 
encouragement  on  the  part  of  contemporaneous  mon- 
archs  —  Charles  V  and  Philip  II  —  is  far  from  likely; 
for  these,  in  the  case  of  armor,  ordered  all  their  superb 
and  costly  suits  from  abroad  instead  of  employing 
Spanish  armorers.  Not  a  single  specimen  in  the 


FIG.  119.     WINDOW  REJA,  CASA  DE  PILATOS. 
Sevilla.    Middle  XVI  Century. 


RENAISSANCE  CHURCH   REJAS  101 

Royal  Armeria  of  Madrid  from  this  period  is  of  Span- 
ish make.  It  is,  therefor,  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  not  to  royal  patronage,  but  to  the  irrepressible 
exuberance  of  the  people  themselves,  are  due  the 
prodigies  of  smithing  herein  described. 


VI 
SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 

GATES 

OF  smaller  rejas  a  number  for  gates  and  win- 
dows are  illustrated  which  have  many  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  more  monumental 
church  works.  Figure  114  is  an  early  example  of 
truly  utilitarian  aspect  and  has  a  simple  moulded  top 
with  Renaissance  scroll  above.  This  gate  is  in  the 
University  of  Salamanca  at  the  foot  of  the  famous 
carved  staircase  leading  from  the  patio  to  the  library. 
At  the  entrance  to  the  latter  is  another  reja  (Figure 
115)  which  is  the  very  antithesis  of  simplicity.  It 
consists  merely  of  a  dozen  spindles  and  very  rich 
frieze  which  swings  out  with  the  gates;  but  its  few 
spindles  are  wrapped  in  gilt  foliation  and  the  embossed 
and  pierced  frieze  is  most  elaborate;  in  fact,  hardly 
an  inch  of  the  whole  work  but  is  ornamented,  yet  it 
is  all  so  delicately  executed  and  so  subservient  to  the 
ensemble  that  its  richness  is  not  displeasing.  In 
the  Hospital  of  Santa  Cruz,  at  Toledo,  is  a  fine  pair  of 
early  sixteenth  century  exterior  gates  which  stand 
intact  and  sturdy  after  their  four  centuries  of  exposure. 
These  gates  are  of  spindles  and  are  crowned  by  a 
Renaissance  feature  of  amorini  supporting  the  arms  of 
Cardinal  Mendoza.  The  figures  are  beaten  in  two 
halves  from  sheet  metal  and  then  riveted  together. 


FIG.  120.     WINDOW  WITH    REJA   HOOD. 
Toledo.    XVI   Century. 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS     103 


Figure  116  is  a  pair  of  gates  in  the  Hispanic  collection 
dating  from  the  end  of  the  same  century.  Whereas 
in  earlier  work  the  spindle  extended  the  full  height, 
here  and  in  other  late  examples  the  lower  portion  of 


FIG.  116.    ENTRANCE  GATES. 

XVII  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

No.  170. 

the  composition  is  taken  up  by  a  panel  filled  with 
scrolling.  The  Segovia  Cathedral  reja  (Figure  111) 
exemplifies  this  same  deviation. 

WINDOW  REJAS 

In  Renaissance  days,  notwithstanding  the  increased 
law  and  order  that  prevailed  in  the  land,  the  window 


104     SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 

reja  hardly  waned  in  popularity.  Figure  117,  a  house 
in  Granada,  gives  an  idea  of  its  lavish  use.  Among 
the  finest  examples  of  the  period  are  those  on  the 
University  of  Alcala  de  Henares,  a  town  not  far  east 
of  Madrid  (Figure  118).  The  rejero  is  unknown; 
but  one  writer  has  suggested  Juan  Frances  who  made 
a  reja  for  the  University  Chapel  and  also  the  fine  low 
railing  around  the  tomb  of  Cardinal  Cisneros  in  the 
Colegiate  Church  of  the  same  city.  The  University 
window  motif  including  the  reja  as  shown  in  the  illus- 
tration was  a  very  popular  one  with  Spanish  archi- 
tects throughout  the  sixteenth  century.  Seen  in  the 
strong  sunlight,  the  iron  grille  with  its  accompanying 
shadow  against  the  yellowish  stone  adds  a  note  of 
great  decorativeness  to  the  facade  of  the  building. 
Figure  119  is  one  of  the  best  known  window  rejas  in 
all  Spain  and  quite  deservedly  so.  It  faces  on  an 
interior  court  of  the  so-called  Casa  de  Pilatos  in  Se- 
villa  where  it  stands  out  so  prominently  even  in 
this  land  of  rejas  that  it  must  be  the  work  of  one  of 
the  master  rejeros  employed  in  the  cathedral  of  the 
same  city.  The  records  of  artizans  engaged  on  ec- 
clesiastical and  municipal  edifices  are  scanty  enough 
in  Spain,  but  still  more  scanty  are  records  pertaining 
to  those  who  were  employed  on  casas  particulares. 
The  Pilatos  grille  carries  no  trace  of  preceding  styles 
and  was  probably  executed  about  1535.  In  the  two 
tiers  of  spindles  forming  the  body  of  the  reja  it  is  the 
restraint  that  impresses  one  as  much  as  the  ornament. 
What  little  exists  is  worked  with  an  exquisite  nicety, 
the  acanthus  motif  on  the  spindles  being  so  delicate 


FIG.  122.     RENAISSANCE   PULPIT. 
A vila  Cathedral.        Early  XVI  Century. 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS    105 

that  it  does  not  in  the  least  interrupt  their  graceful 
outline.  The  two  intermediary  bands  are  decaying 
owing  to  the  fact  that  until  recently  this  portion  of 
the  house  had  been  long  abandoned;  but  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  they  may  be  saved  by  the  general  restora- 
tion now  in  progress.  The  cresting  is  an  example  of 
the  Spanish  rejeros'  great  ability  at  repousse.  It 
consists,  as  in  other  pieces  described,  of  separate 
sheets  for  front  and  back,  beaten  to  forms,  and  then 
riveted  together.  In  portions  where  the  metal  has 
fallen  away,  one  may  obtain  a  good  idea  of  how  this 
work  was  done. 

On  the  house  of  the  Count  of  Toledo  in  Toledo  is 
a  more  common  type  of  sixteenth  century  window 
reja,  surrounded  in  this  case  by  fragments  of  Moorish 
work  (Figure  120).  The  whole  treatment  is  much 
less  architectural  than  in  the  Sevilla  example,  for, 
with  the  exception  of  the  spindles,  the  rest  of  the 
detail  is  obtained  by  working  in  the  flat.  The  bands 
are  formed  of  sheet  iron  ornamented  with  applied 
flattened  rosettes,  while  the  scroll  motif  at  the  top, 
so  dear  to  window  rejeros,  is  beaten  from  flat  iron 
strips.  The  gourd-shaped  motifs  on  the  corner  are 
also  typical,  consisting  of  a  cusped  acanthus  leaf  cut 
from  sheet  iron  and  into  which  little  lilies  on  long 
stems  are  poked.  The  Mudejar  hood  above  this 
reja  is  supported  on  good  iron  brackets  and,  besides 
protecting,  it  adds  much  to  the  importance  of  the 
feature  below.  Window  rejas,  like  all  other  iron 
accessories,  were  much  affected  by  the  prevailing 
styles  of  architecture.  Under  the  severe  hand  of  the 


106    SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 

architect  Herrera,  whose  restrained  art  was  in  violent 
contrast  to  early  Renaissance  freedom,  the  reja  was 
brought  down  to  a  point  of  extreme  plainness.  By 
the  tendency  to  work  in  flat  expanses  of  metal  and  to 
duplicate  stone  mouldings,  it  lost  the  charm  of  iron- 


FIG.  121.    WINDOW  REJA. 

Facade  of  the  Audiencia. 

Granada.    XVII  Century. 

work.  Figure  121  is  a  late  reja  from  the  facade  of 
the  Audiencia  in  Granada,  finished  in  1587  in  the 
style  of  Herrera. 

PULPITS 

Wrought  iron  pulpits,  several  of  which  were  men- 
tioned in  the  Gothic  period,  became  a  favorite  sub- 
ject for  the  Renaissance  ironworker,  and  played  as 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS     107 

great  a  part  in  the  development  of  Spanish  Renais- 
sance as  beautifully  carved  marble  pulpits  did  in  the 
Italian.  The  towns  of  Avila,  Sevilla,  Toledo,  Burgos, 
Tortosa,  Santiago  contain  the  best  known  examples, 
usually  in  pairs.  In  mentioning  the  flamboyant 
pulpit  of  the  capilla  mayor  in  Avila  Cathedral  (Fig- 
ure 40),  its  Renaissance  companion  was  referred  to 
(Frontispiece  and  Figure  122).  This  is  hexagonal  in 
plan  and  reached  by  a  staircase  which  winds  about  the 
pier  (for  both  pulpits  set  some  distance  forward  of  the 
reja).  Not  a  detail  of  it  but  is  of  purest  Renaissance. 
As  sculpture  it  is  equal  to  the  celebrated  pulpit  by 
Benedetto  de  Majano,  in  Santa  Croce,  in  Florence, 
but  instead  of  being  worked  as  a  positive  (from  the 
face)  as  the  marble  was,  the  metal  one  had  to  be 
worked  as  a  negative  (hammered  from  the  back),  re- 
quiring greater  skill  on  the  part  of  the  artizan.  Un- 
like much  of  the  repousse  already  discussed,  these 
panels  are  beaten  from  comparatively  small  sheets 
and  riveted  to  the  wooden  frame  upon  which  the 
whole  is  built.  No  attempt  is  made  to  conceal  the 
joining  of  the  sheets;  on  the  contrary  the  rivet  heads 
are  accentuated  into  little  features.  The  standard 
and  the  beautifully  wrought  supporting  brackets  are 
beaten  in  solid  iron;  an  idea  of  the  richness  of  the 
brackets  and  the  underside  of  the  pulpit  can  be  best 
obtained  by  consulting  the  drawing  used  as  a  fron- 
tispiece. The  stair,  including  the  rail  and  stringer, 
was  made  considerably  later  by  an  inferior  workman, 
and  is  somewhat  out  of  scale  with  the  body  of  the 
pulpit.  If  only  Spain,  when  following  Italy's  art  and 


108     SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 

architecture,  had  followed  the  excellent  Italian  cus- 
tom of  recording  the  creators  of  each  fine  production, 
it  would  be  an  added  delight  to  those  who  now  find 
the  Spanish  work  so  interesting.  Little  or  nothing  is 
known  of  the  Avila  rejero  in  question.  Juan  France's 
is  hazarded  by  some  writers  as  the  author  of  these 
pulpits  as  well  as  the  capilla  mayor  reja.  Whoever 
wrought  them  was  a  thorough  artist,  for  portraits, 
figures,  and  ornament  in  every  form  were  all  handled 
with  equal  facility. 

Of  entirely  different  character,  because  much  less 
sophisticated,  are  the  two  iron  pulpits  of  the  capilla 
mayor  of  Sevilla  Cathedral.  Figure  123  shows  one, 
while  its  companion  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  Fig- 
ure 101,  which  illustration  further  shows  how  the  two 
pulpits  are  actually  part  of  the  reja  composition.  By 
thus  combining  them,  the  skilful  Friar  Francisco  de 
Salamanca  offered  the  best  solution  for  reaching  the 
pulpit  without  disturbing  its  graceful  chalice-like 
outline  by  the  angularity  of  a  visible  staircase.  Here 
the  staircase  is  partly  concealed  behind  the  reja,  and 
the  priest,  after  ascending,  passes  through  by  means 
of  the  imperceptibly  hinged  five  bars  mentioned  in  the 
description  of  the  capilla  mayor  reja.  The  Sevilla 
pulpits,  while  as  beautiful  as  the  Avila  example,  are 
less  architectonic  in  design  and  exhibit  more  of  a 
sculpturesque  quality;  the  subjects  of  the  panels  are 
all  drawn  from  biblical  history.  Particularly  fine  is 
the  portion  directly  under  the  pulpit,  and  also  the 
cylindrical  standard  covered  with  beautiful  filigree 
ornamented.  The  Sevilla  pulpits,  like  the  rejas,  are 


FIG.  127.    SPANISH    KEYS  OF  THE   XVI,   XVII, 
AND  XVIII   CENTURIES. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Nos.  17,  18,  22,  23,  and  24. 


FIG.  128.    VARGUENO  WITH    DECORATIONS   IN    IRON. 

XVI  Century. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS     109 

heavily  gilt  and  present  an  imposing  appearance  in 
the  sombre  cathedral.  In  the  same  class  as  to  design 
are  the  fine  ones  by  Villalpando  made  for  Toledo  in 
1548;  but  these  are  worked  in  bronze,  as  indeed  are 
many  parts  of  the  capilla  mayor  reja  by  the  same 
artist. 

Swinging  pulpits  are  also  found  in  Spain  and  one 
is  illustrated  from  the  monastery  of  Las  Huelgas  in 
Burgos  (Figure  124).  Though  slightly  out  of  the 
perpendicular,  it  is  still  in  use.  It  is  octagonal  in  form, 
with  each  face  divided  into  four  panels  of  equal  size 
containing  saints  in  relief.  Practically  no  additional 
detail  adorns  it.  The  execution  is  good,  but  it  is  the 
novelty  of  not  being  supported  on  a  pedestal  or  stand- 
ard, but  swung  from  the  wall  on  an  iron  bracket,  that 
chiefly  commands  attention.  To  give  access  to  the 
pulpit  it  was  swung  back  to  the  wall  and  reached  by 
a  little  portable  staircase. 

IRONWORK  FOR  DOORS  AND  CHESTS 

It  was  not  habitual  in  Spain,  as  in  France,  for  the 
ironworker  to  lavish  unlimited  time  and  consummate 
skill  on  locks  and  keys.  These  objects  therefor  are 
not  remarkable,  though  some  are  sufficiently  rich. 
Among  the  best  keys  are  the  early  ones  made  by  the 
Moors;  for  with  them  the  key  was  a  great  symbol  to 
be  placed  as  the  emblem  of  vigilance  or  ownership 
on  their  gates  and  towers.  Two  of  the  most  famous 
Moorish  keys  are  those  in  Sevilla  Cathedral  (Figure 
125)  the  larger  being  silver  and  the  smaller  iron.  This 
latter  measures  six  inches  and  the  wards  form  an  in- 


110    SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 

scription  in  Arabic  cufic  characters  of  which  several 
different  translations  have  been  made,  among  them 
the  following:  "To  God  belongs  all  empire  and  power." 
These  keys  are  supposed  to  be  the  ones  delivered  by 
the  Moors  to  King  Fernando  el  Santo  when  he  con- 


FIG.  125.    MOORISH  KEYS. 
Sevilla  Cathedral.    Probably  XII  Century. 

quered  the  city.  This  ceremony  of  giving  up  the  keys 
of  some  long  guarded  and  defended  place  probably 
occured  in  Spain  more  frequently  than  in  any  other 
country;  hence  in  Spanish  paintings,  in  stone  and  iron 
reliefs,  and  in  carved  wood,  it  was  a  favorite  theme. 
Another  interesting  iron  key  with  wards  composed  of 
lettering  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Hispanic  Society 


en 
O 


2 
D 

O 


O       5 
z      '£ 


O  b^ 

X  a   o 

o  "c  _>, 

0  U  .  g 

UJ  >  en 

gX'E 

01  S 


u. 


o 

E 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS     111 

(Figure  126).    This  time  the  characters  are  Gothic 
and  the  inscription  Spanish.    The  key  is  supposed  to 
date  from  the  fourteenth  century  and  was  found  in 
Caspe  in  the  province  of  Aragon. 
In  Renaissance  days  it  was  not  the  bit,  but  the 


FIG.  126.    GOTHIC  KEY. 

Aragonese.    XIV  Century. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Length  8tf  in.        No.  41. 

bow  of  the  key  on  which  most  care  was  expended, 
since  this  latter  lent  itself  better  to  the  curving  and 
intertwined  motifs  of  the  period.  Spanish  Renais- 
sance keys  were  better  than  the  Italian  but  far  in- 
ferior to  the  French,  which  were  marvels  of  art.  The 
most  ornate  Spanish  examples  were  those  given  to  the 


112    SMALLER   RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS 

king's  favorite  ministers  and  admitting  them  to  the 
royal  apartments.  "Under  Charles  II  all  the  gentle- 
men of  the  king's  household  carried  at  all  times  gilt 
master-keys  to  every  room  of  every  royal  palace, 
with  absurdly  large,  oblong  bow  handles  projecting 
from  the  right  hand  pocket  and  secured  by  colored 
ribbons.  The  valets  carried  the  same  key  but  it  was 
not  guilt.  If  a  key  was  lost,  the  loser  had  to  warn 
the  chamberlain,  who  immediately  caused  every  lock 
to  be  changed  at  a  cost  often  exceeding  10,000  crowns 
which  had  to  be  defrayed  by  the  loser.  Dummy 
keys  were  given  as  badges  to  officials  who  had  no 
occasion  to  use  them,  and  to  some  noblemen  not  of 
the  household  as  a  mark  of  distinction.  They  are 
known  to  collectors  as  chamberlain's  keys.  There  is 
a  fine  series  of  them  in  the  British  Museum,  but  they 
possess  no  artistic  merit."  (J.  Starkie  Gardner).  j 
Figure  127  shows  several  keys  in  the  Hispanic 
Society's  collection,  not  ceremonial,  but  for  every- 
day use.  The  one  in  the  center  of  the  page  is  closely 
patterned  after  the  Dauphin  keys  of  France,  while 
the  bows  of  the  remainder  (expecting  No.  17)  are 
cut  in  the  flimsy  Italian  manner;  that  is,  instead  of 
the  ornament  being  cut  from  the  solid,  it  is  made  in 
small  detached  pieces  which  are  inserted  in  the  ring 
and  held  in  place  by  means  of  solder  and  pins.  It 
seems  strange  that  the  Spanish  ironworker,  who 
evinced  supreme  ability  in  meeting  the  many  problems 
of  the  monumental  reja,  should  have  slighted  a  simple 
little  commonplace  like  the  key.  In  default  of  any 
illuminating  records  preserved  from  the  period,  the 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS    113 

explanation  is  offered  that  it  was  the  ambition  of  the 
most  expert  men  to  secure  employment  on  rejas,  which 
left  the  comparatively  insignificant  key  to  apprentices. 

Locks,  however,  received  considerably  more  atten- 
tion and  some  distinctive  ones  were  developed,  es- 
pecially on  the  Renaissance  rejas  and  also  on  that 
peculiarly  Spanish  piece  of  furniture  called  the  var- 
guefio.  The  reja  lockbox,  or  lock  proper,  was  usu- 
ally not  so  ornamented  as  its  hasp  and  bolt,  which, 
besides  being  decorated  in  divers  ways,  was  monu- 
mental in  size,  with  a  hasp  often  as  long  as  two  feet 
and  operating  a  formidable  looking  bar.  Excellent 
examples  of  this  type  may  be  seen  on  the  reja  of  the 
coro  in  Sevilla  Cathedral  and  on  that  of  the  Royal 
Chapel  at  Granada. 

In  order  to  understand  the  importance  of  the  var- 
gueno  lock  (mentioned  as  especially  worthy  of  atten- 
tion) it  requires  some  slight  description  of  this  national 
piece  of  furniture.  It  has  been  explained  how  in  the 
Gothjc  periods  the  Spaniards  had  developed  the  chest 
into  a  distinctive  article  which  they  called  the  var- 
gueno.  The  earliest  Moorish  examples  found  are 
richly  inlaid  with  ivory,  pearl,  and  various  colored 
woods  in  the  Eastern  manner,  leaving  room  for  com- 
paratively little  decorative  iron;  but  the  same  ar- 
ticle, as  developed  and  enlarged  by  the  Spaniards, 
has  a  wooden  exterior  (generally  walnut)  of  the  sim- 
plest nature  and  depending  solely  on  applied  iron  for 
its  decorative  effect.  This  piece  of  furniture  was  so 
plentifully  and  so  well  made  in  the  little  town  of 
Vargas  near  Toledo  that  it  received  the  name  of  var- 


114    SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 

guefio.  There  is  no  doubt  that  its  making  must 
have  given  employment  to  many  Moorish  artizans 
still  in  Spain  who  carried  out  their  own  schemes  of 
decoration,  which  accounts  for  the  continued  Oriental 
character  of  much  of  the  applied  metal  work. 
In  shape  the  vargueno  was  an  oblong  box  whose 


FIG.  129.    FLATTENED  OUT  CORNER-BRACE  OF  A 
VARGUENO. 

front  let  down  on  hinges,  disclosing  the  drawers  in- 
side. It  was  mounted  generally  on  a  stand  from 
which  two  massive  supports  pulled  out  to  hold  the 
front  when  let  down,  thus  forming  a  sort  of  secretary 
(Figure  128).  It  became  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
distinctive  bits  of  Spanish  furniture,  and  was  the  rai- 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS     115 

son  d'etre  of  various  beautiful  locks,  lozenge  shaped 
plaques,  and  interesting  angle  braces;  which  last, 
considering  the  excellent  dovetailing  of  the  wood- 
work at  the  ends  would  almost  seem  superfluous 
and  were  retained  doubtless  merely  as  an  additional 
point  of  richness,  especially  in  late  Renaissance  ex- 
amples. Figure  129  is  a  drawing,  developed  in  plan, 
a  corner  piece  cut  from  a  single  sheet,  along  with  its 
accompanying  hook  and  eye.  This  latter  feature 
and  also  the  little  push  buttons  at  the  sides  of  the 
front  are  designed  to  relieve  the  strain  on  the  central 
hasp.  But  of  all  metal  trimmings  on  the  varguefio 
it  was  the  lock  and  its  hasp  that  received  the  most 
attention.  Many  were  worked  up  to  an  extraordinary 
degree  unlike  any  similar  objects  made  in  Europe. 
Figure  130  is  a  simple  lock,  twelve  inches  high,  typical 
of  the  late  sixteenth  century;  its  fixing  staples,  in 
pairs  and  very  much  featured,  are,  along  with  the 
two  flanking  colonnettes  of  the  hasp,  the  chief  objects 
in  relief.  The  colonnettes  are  furnished  with  a  staple 
on  the  back  so  that  a  turn  of  the  key  throws  a  bolt 
through  both.  The  filagree  of  the  plate  is  backed 
with  velours  to  obtain  additional  richness,  and  the 
iron  is  gilded  to  further  accentuate  the  patterning. 
Other  details  on  the  face  of  varguenos  were  the  two 
ornamental  placques  with  pulls  fastened  to  them  and 
used  when  letting  down  the  front  (Figure  131).  To 
obtain  symmetry  certain  plaques  were  added  that 
have  no  other  purpose  whatever;  these  generally 
used  a  bosse  or  a  pilgrim's  shell  as  a  central  motif. 
All  practical  features  were  firmly  held  to  the  wooden 


116    SMALLER  RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS 

box  by  at  least  one  huge  nail  driven  through  and  turned 
over  on  the  inside,  and  very  little  effort  was  made  to 
conceal  this  crude  method  of  fastening.  The  lock 
box  was  always  mortised  in  the  wood,  the  plate  flush 
on  the  outside  and  nothing  visible  on  the  inside  but 


FIG.  130.    VARGUENO  LOCK. 

XVI  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  12  in. 

the  rivet  heads.  Three  little  iron  shell  heads  on  the 
outside  generally  indicated  the  location  of  the  two 
hinges  of  the  movable  front.  The  sides  of  the  var- 
gueno  were  plainer  than  the  front,  the  handles,  often 
of  beautiful  design,  being  the  only  note  aside  from 
small  corner  bracings.  Figures  132  to  135  are  de- 


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FIG.  137.    A   PAIR  OF   RENAISSANCE   DOOR   KNOCKERS. 
XVII  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  6  in.        Nos.  131  and  133. 

FIG.  138.     LOCKPLATE  AND   HASP. 

XVII  Century.        Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Plate  $y*  in.  high.         No.  126. 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS     117 

tached  vargueno  locks  in  the  Hispanic  Society's  col- 
lection, two  still  retaining  their  long,  slender  hasps. 
Of  these  examples  Figure  132,  a  rubbing  of  a  design 
derived,  apparently,  from  the  escutcheon  of  the  owner, 
is  a  very  superior  piece  of  work;  Figures  134  and  135 
are  typical  Renaissance,  yet  the  latter  shows  little 
study  of  conventional  patterning,  the  design  appearing 
as  if  it  had  been  eaten  out  nap-hazard  by  an  acid. 


FIG.  136.    A  PAIR  OF   RENAISSANCE  FIXING-STAPLES. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  4  in.        No.  135. 

Figure  136  is  a  pair  of  fixing  staples  showing  how  the 
form  developed  from  the  Gothic  buttress. 

Knockers  became  less  of  a  feature  in  Spain  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  but  never  fell 
into  such  disuse  as  in  other  countries  of  Europe;  in 
fact,  the  knocker  is  to  this  day  a  very  much  used 
piece  of  door  hardware.  As  it  became  more  utili- 
tarian it  was  reduced  in  size  but  maintained  its  good 
workmanship.  Figure  137  illustrates  this  type,  the 
knocker  in  the  shape  of  a  little  Renaissance  baluster 
which  is  held  forward  from  the  door  by  a  series  of 


118     SMALLER   RENAISSANCE   PRODUCTIONS 


concentric  rosette  patterns  interesting  in  relief.  Fig- 
ures 139  and  140  are  very  rare  examples  in  that  they 
exhibit  the  effect  of  the  antique  revival  in  Spain. 
This  movement,  generally  ascribed  to  the  excavations 
made  at  Pompeii,  had  a  striking  and  lasting  effect  on 
European  art.  France,  always  most  sensitive  to  art 
movements,  welcomed  it  after  her  Louis  XV  extrava- 


FIG.  139.     KNOCKER  EXHIBITING  GREEK  REVIVAL. 

XVIII  Century. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  7  in.        No.  130. 

gances  and  from  there  it  passed  with  but  little  change 
into  the  neighboring  countries.  In  the  two  knockers 
illustrating  this  phase  in  Spain,  only  the  actual  ham- 
mers show  the  feeling  for  the  antique,  the  Greek 
acroteria  being  the  principal  motif  for  each.  In  other 


FIG.  140.  DOOR  KNOCKER. 

Renaissance  backplate,  hammer  of  Classic  Inspiration. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Height  13  in.     No.  124. 


SMALLER   RENAISSANCE  PRODUCTIONS    119 

portions  of  the  hammer  is  seen  a  combination  of  Gre- 
cian and  Spanish  forms  engraved  into  patterning, 
but  the  object,  in  spite  of  the  change  in  ornamentation, 
retains  its  old  form.  In  Figure  140  the  backplate  is 
purely  Spanish  with  the  supporting  lions  of  Leon  as 
its  central  motif  and  may  be  much  earlier  than  the 
hammer,  which  dates  from  the  middle  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  Of  the  same  century  are  the  door 
escutcheon  and  door  pull  from  a  palace  in  Palma  de 


Scale  of 


Inches 


FIG.  141.    DOOR    HANDLE    AND    ESCUTCHEON    PLATE 

FROM  A  PALACE  IN  PALMA. 

Balearic  Isles.    XVII  Century. 

Mallorca  (Figure  141).  These,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  Baroque  obtained  in  the  Balearic  Islands,  are 
very  Spanish  in  character,  cut  from  flat  plates  and 
with  no  surface  finish  whatever. 


VII 
THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK 

THE  iron  balcony,  descendant  of  the  purely 
defensive  stone  balcony,  came  into  universal 
use  in  Spain  in  the  late  seventeenth  century. 
It  never,  however,  attained  the  excellence  of  the 
French  examples  of  the  same  period  designed  by 
Lepautre  and  Marot,  for  by  this  time  things  had 
ceased  to  be  done  in  Spain  on  a  lavish  scale.  There 
are  numerous  isolated  examples  of  the  French  style, 
but  the  smith  instead  of  appreciating  its  elegance  and 
comparative  restraint,  exaggerated  its  worst  features. 
Occasionally,  however,  superior  pieces  are  found  and 
while  largely  French  in  character  there  is  sufficient 
deviation  in  them  to  indicate  that  their  maker  was 
not  executing  his  work  in  a  merely  perfunctory  man- 
ner. Figures  142  and  143  are  wrought  iron  balconies 
from  Palma  de  Mallorca.  (This  handsome  little  is- 
land capital  contains  a  surprising  amount  of  interest- 
ing Renaissance  architecture  and  is  worth  a  visit  for 
much  more  than  its  ironwork,  in  which  particular 
field  it  was  celebrated  from  earliest  times,  the  Morey 
family  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  century  having 
executed  a  quantity  of  fine  early  Gothic  work.)  In 
the  majority  of  early  Spanish  balconies  the  spindle 
form  was  preferred  (Figures  144  and  145);  and  the 
result,  while  severe  in  comparison  with  the  rich  Ba- 


THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK       121 

roque  forms  in  French  balconies,  was  never  poor; 
perhaps  because  the  spindles,  always  beaten  out  by 
hand,  had  as  a  consequent,  variety  which  considerably 
enlivened  them.  Moreover,  balconies  were  invari- 
ably upheld  by  long  graceful  scrolls,  survivors  of 
genuine  forging,  which  were  rarely  if  ever  beaten 

r • 1 


FIG.  142.  BALCONY  FRONT  FROM  A 

PALACE  IN  PALMA. 

XVIII  Century. 


FIG.  143.     BALCONY  WITH  A  CURVED 

FRONT. 
Palace  in  Palma.    XVIII  Century. 

from  the  square  as  in  other  countries,  but  were  round 
and  spindled  at  the  middle.  A  succession  of  these 
scroll-supported  balconies  makes  the  facade  of  even 
the  plainest  house  attractive.  Sometimes  a  single 
balcony  extends  clear  across  the  house,  as  later  in 
France;  this  is  the  case  on  the  Hospital  Real,  erected 


122       THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK 

about  1500,  in  Santiago,  where  the  corbels  are  not 
of  iron  but  of  carved  stone.  In  the  little  town  of 
Santa  Coloma  de  Queralt,  in  northern  Catalonia,  is 
another  long  balcony  with  not  only  iron  supports  but 
also  interesting  overhead  braces  embellished  with 
dragon  heads  (Figure  146).  It  is  dated  1760  and  is  a 


FIG.  146.     BALCONY  WITH  OVERHEAD  BRACES. 
Santa  Coloma  de  Queralt,  Catalonia.    Dated  1760. 

remarkably  good  piece  of  work  for  this  late  period.  In 
the  Casa  Consistorial  of  Palma,  built  a  century  earlier, 
may  be  seen  a  long  balcony  where  the  railing  is  merely 
a  spindle  silhouette  cut  from  sheet  metal.  This 
motif  is  rarely  seen  on  the  mainland,  but  in  Palma  it 
is  used  freely  both  for  balconies  and  stair-rails  (Figure 


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THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK       123 

147).    The  decorative  value  of  this  simple  and  inex- 
pensive motif  is  surprising. 

In  this  same  illustration  may  be  noticed  an  iron 
well-pulley  (armadura)  numbers  of  which  may  still 
be  seen  in  the  patios  of  the  land.  Figure  148  is  also 
from  Palma.  While  most  of  the  armaduras  date  from 


FIG.  149.    TYPICAL  IRON  BRACKET. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Height  3  ft.  4  in.        No.  175. 

the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance,  a  few  fine  Gothic 
ones  may  be  found  through  Catalonia  in  ancient 
palaces  and  castles.  In  quite  the  other  side  of  the 
peninsula,  Plasencia,  is  a  curious  standard  in  the 
Archbishop's  garden.  The  well-curb  here  is  T-shaped, 
made  up  of  three  sarcophogus-like  troughs,  and  over 


124       THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK 

each  extends  a  dragon  arm  with  pulley  radiating  from 
the  tall  iron  standard;  the  whole  structure  is  prob- 
ably seventeenth  century.  Another  unusual  one,  part 
Gothic  and  part  Renaissance,  is  in  the  palace  of  the 
Count  of  Grajal,  near  Leon. 
A  large  number  of  miscellaneous  objects  in  iron 


FIG.  ISO.    CRUZ  DE  LINDE  OR  BOUNDARY  CROSS. 
Catalan.    XV  Century. 

may  be  encountered  by  the  traveler  in  Spain,  from 
small  decorative  cooking  utensils,  such  as  the  gridiron 
(Figure  153)  to  large  iron  frames  on  palaces  and  public 
buildings,  in  which  their  bells  were  hung.  A  particu- 
larly well-known  bell  apparatus  is  the  ornate  four- 
teenth-century one  on  the  northeast  tower  of  Barcelona 
Cathedral.  Such  superstructures  form  picturesque 
silhouettes  against  the  sky  as  may  be  observed  on 
hundreds  of  small  churches  throughout  the  land  and 


THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK       125 

even  in  Southern  France.  Fantastic  iron  weather 
vanes  and  fmials  are  also  seen;  monumental  among 
the  former  (but  in  bronze)  is  the  figure  on  the  former 
Moorish  prayer  tower,  now  the  belfry  of  Sevilla  Cathe- 
dral, representing  Faith  holding  the  banner  of  Con- 
stantine;  it  was  cast  in  1568  by  Bartolome  Morel. 
This  is  the  famous  "Giraldillo"  which  gives  the  tower 
its  name,  and  which  moves  quite  readily  with  the 
wind  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  thirteen  feet  high 
and  weighs  one  and  one-quarter  tons.  Iron  crosses 
are  frequently  found,  both  on  and  in  churches;  those 
on  the  wayside,  often  in  the  nature  of  a  boundary 
mark,  are  more  rare  (Figure  150). 

In  the  making  of  Spanish  tables,  chairs  and  benches 
(which  were  not  plentiful  until  French  fashions  were 
imported  with  the  Bourbons),  iron  was  often  a  struc- 
tural adjunct,  such  as  diagonal  bracing  and  connecting 
pieces,  corner  angles,  and  nailheads.  Not  that  the 
Spanish  cabinet-maker  was  not  thoroughly  conscien- 
tious in  his  work,  for  Spanish  furniture  is  as  solidly 
constructed  as  any  other  of  the  period;  but  he  was  so 
imbued  with  the  importance  of  iron  that  without  its 
introduction  he  could  not  see  his  work  satisfactorily 
finished.  Figure  151  shows  a  common  Spanish  method 
of  bracing  a  table  with  iron.  In  the  case  of  benches 
the  iron  brace  was  in  the  form  of  a  long  hook  which, 
when  released  from  its  eye,  permitted  the  legs  of  the 
bench  to  fold,  thereby  increasing  its  portability.  The 
bench  is  a  really  important  article  in  Spanish  interiors, 
and  often  exhibits,  besides  the  brace,  delicate  little 
plaques  of  ornamental  iron  let  into  the  back.  Some- 


126       THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK 

times  it  is  covered  with  leather  fastened  down  with 
ornamental  nailheads,  these  in  the  form  of  shells, 
stars,  crosses  and  rosettes. 

Furniture  entirely  of  iron  exists,  although  such 
pieces,  with  the  exception  of  iron  beds,  were  unusual. 
In  the  well  known  collection  of  Senor  Santiago  Rusinol 
at  Sitjes,  Catalonia,  there  is  a  rare  and  curious  iron 
desk  with  leather  fittings.  Figure  152  shows  a  seven- 
teenth-century iron  chair,  one  of  a  set  of  twelve,  four 


FIG.  151.    TABLE  WITH  WROUGHT  IRON  BRACES. 
Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

of  which  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Hispanic  Society. 
The  entire  chair  is  practically  a  wooden  conception 
carried  out  in  iron.  It  is  well  hammered  up  but 
presents  nothing  new  in  design  excepting  the  back, 
which  is  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  ironwork  and  makes 
a  graceful  contrast  to  the  heavier  structural  mem- 
bers. Another  iron  chair,  but  designed  in  the  spirit 
of  the  material,  is  the  well  known  example  among  the 
Spanish  pieces  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum  made 
entirely  of  pierced  and  inlaid  (damascened)  iron.  It 
is  a  late  but  splendid  specimen  of  the  art,  dating  from 


FIG.  154.    SPANISH    BIT  WITH   ORNAMENTS  TO 

WARD  OFF  THE   EVIL   EYE. 

XVII  Century.      Hispanic  Society  of  America.      No.  132. 
FIG.  155.    SPUR  OF  A  CONQUISTADOR. 
XVI  Century.      Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Dia.  of  wheel  5>^  in.        No.  139. 

FIG.  156.    STIRRUP  OF  A  CONQUISTADOR. 

XVI  Century.      Hispanic  Society  of  America. 

Total  length  18  in.        No.  140. 


THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK       127 

the  seventeenth  or  early  eighteenth  century.  The 
art  of  damascening  —  incising  the  metal  in  a  pattern 
into  which  is  pressed  gold  or  silver  thread  —  was 
introduced  into  Spain  by  the  Moors  with  whom  the 
practice,  presumably  originating  in  Damascus,  was 
very  ancient.  As  early  as  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 


FIG.  152.    ONE  OF  FOUR  IRON  CHAIRS  OF  THE  XVII 

CENTURY. 

Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Nos.  171, 172, 173  and  174. 

centuries  Moorish  towns,  —  Almeria,  Murcia,  Sevilla, 
Granada,  —  were  celebrated  for  it,  and  to  this  day 
the  art  is  practiced  in  Spain.  An  Arab  traveler,  Al 
Makari,  wrote  of  Murcia  "the  objects  made  there  of 
iron,  consisting  of  knives  and  scissors  inlaid  in  gold, 


128       THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK 

and  other  utensils  fit  either  for  the  outfit  of  a  bride 
or  a  soldier  are  in  such  large  quantities  that  the 
mere  thought  of  them  confuses  the  imagination." 
Perhaps  the  best  known  modern  work  in  damas- 
cening is  the  monument  to  Gen.  Prim  in  Madrid. 
Other  comparatively  recent  examples  are  the  extra- 


FIG.  153.    CATALAN  GRIDIRON. 
XVII  Century. 

ordinary  inlays  in  the  royal  palaces  of  Aranjuez  and 
El  Escorial. 

The  last  phase  of  Spanish  architecture,  and  a  lam- 
entable one,  is  the  Churrigueresco  of  the  late  seven- 
teenth century,  named  after  the  architect  Churriguera 
who  indulged  in  a  delirium  of  ornament  to  conceal 


THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK       129 

the  faultiness  of  his  structures.  These  grandiose 
productions  were  the  Spanish  interpretation  of  the 
French  Baroque,  and  the  iron  accessories  used  were 
close  but  inferior  to  their  French  prototypes,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  balconies  of  the  fantastic  facade  of  the 
palace  of  the  Marques  de  Dos  Aguas  in  Valencia. 
The  few  rejas  now  erected  took  on  an  entirely  new 
character;  instead  of  spindles  and  embossed  bands  as 
motifs,  they  were  adorned  with  cartouches,  medallions, 
and  a  quantity  of  capricious  scrolling.  This  was  the 
period  that  gave  to  France  and  England  those  eight- 
eenth century  gateways  which  stand  as  monuments 
to  the  virility  of  late  ironworkers;  but  in  Spain,  owing 
to  the  concentration  of  domestic  life  within  the  patio, 
and  also  to  the  lack  of  villa  life,  there  never  was  the 
demand  for  exterior  gates.  In  Sevilla  and  certain 
other  Andalusian  towns,  however,  the  arrangement  of 
the  houses  necessitated  iron  gates,  called  canceles,  to 
the  patio.  As  the  street  doors  are  thrown  open  day 
and  evening,  the  passerby  catches  many  a  glimpse  of 
these  Baroque  gates  and  the  attractive  patio  beyond. 
An  isolated  display  of  late  exterior  ironwork  may  be 
seen  at  La  Granja,  the  royal  park  created  in  imitation 
of  Versailles  by  Spain's  first  Bourbon  king,  Philip  V. 
These  accessories,  like  the  gardens  they  adorn,  are 
in  no  sense  a  Spanish  expression.  It  was  probably  all 
designed  and  executed  by  French  artists,  and  exhibits 
Baroque  in  more  pleasing  aspect  than  is  found  else- 
where in  Spain,  except,  as  already  stated,  in  Palma 
de  Mallorca.  Figure  157  shows  a  typical  bit  of 
late  eighteenth-century  Spanish  ironwork  in  Granada. 


130       THE   LAST  OF  SPANISH    IRONWORK 

There  is  nothing  particularly  Spanish  about  it;  it 
could  have  been  produced  in  any  other  European 
country  at  the  time. 

Until  very  recent  years  modern  Spanish  ironwork 
gave  no  signs  of  improvement.  All  that  was  bad  in 
the  ornamentation  of  the  French  Napoleon  III  style 
was  copied  by  Spanish  artizans  of  the  late  nineteenth 
century.  Figure  158,  part  of  the  iron  fittings  on  the 
modern  doors  of  the  restored  facade  of  the  Casa  Con- 
sistorial  at  Barcelona,  shows  the  hard  spiky  forms  so 
characteristic  of  this  period;  but  the  same  city  has 
since  produced  some  excellent  works,  an  encouraging 
sign  that  in  Catalonia  at  least  there  may  be  some 
return  to  those  splendid  traditions  which  gave  six- 
teenth-century Spanish  ironwork  a  high  place  among 
the  fine  arts. 


INDEX 


Acuna,  Bishop  de,  36 

Aldab6n,  46 

Alcala,  de  Henares,  104 

Al  Makari,  127 

Almeria,  127 

Alhambra,  15 

Amarejo,  2 

Andalucia,  12, 129 

Andino,  Pedro  de,  85 

Andino,  Crist6bal  de,  85,  91,  94, 

96 

Anaya  grille,  Salamanca,  33,  35 
Andirons,  67 
Antique  revival,  99,  118 
Aragonese,  56,  64 
Aranjuez,  128 
Arc6n,  60 

Arenas,  Hernando  de,  97 
Arquetas,  61 
Armor,  100 

Armorial  bearings,  37,  39,  73 
Armadura,  123 
Avila,  27,  51,  96,  107 

B 

Backplate,  46,  49,  52,  54 

Baggage  chests,  60 

Balcony,  99, 120 

Balustrade,  99 

Barcelona,  20,  52 

Cathedral,  20,  21,  72, 124 


Barcelona,  Casa  Consistorial,  130 

Santa  Maria  del  Mar,  19 

Baroque,  98, 129 
Bartolome,  Maestre,  85,  89 
Basilicas,  Christian,  9,  97 
Basque,  49 
Bell  frames,  124 
Bermudez,  Cean,  86 
Blast  furnace,  2,  4 
Blazon,  37,  39,  90,  91 
Bloom,  4 
Boina,  49 
Bosse,  16,  46,  49 
Box  fittings,  60 
Bravo,  Francisco,  83 
Braziers,  62 
Burgos,  20 

Cathedral,  20,  36,  91 

,  Las  Huelgas,  109 

,  Miraflores,  36,  86 

Byzantine,  17 


Cadiz,  97 

Candelabra,  35,  62,  91 

Candelero,  62 

Candlestick,  62 

Capilla  del  Condestable,  Burgos, 

77,92 

del  Sagrario,  Palencia,  11 

de  la  Antigua,  Sevilla,  85 

de  la  Anunciaci6n,  Sevilla, 

85 


131 


132 


INDEX 


Capilla  de  la  Concepci6n,  Se- 
villa,  85 

de  la  Gamba,  Sevilla,  85 

de  la  Presentaci6n,  Burgos, 

91 

de  los  Caballeros,  Cuenca, 

97 

de  los  Reyes  Nuevos,  To- 
ledo, 82 

de  los  Reyes  Viejos,  To- 
ledo, 82 

de  N.  S.  de  Blanca,  Palen- 

cia,  96 

-  de  N.  S.  de  la  Piedad,  Se- 

govia, 97 

de  N.  S.  de  las  Angustias, 

Palencia,  25 

de  San  Pedro,  Palencia,  93, 

95 

de  Santa  Ana,  Burgos,  36 

de  Santa  Cruz,  Pamplona, 

10 

de  Santa  Librada,  Sigiienza, 

80 

de  Santa  Magdalena,  Tar- 
ragona, 82 

Mozarabe,  Toledo,  82 

Mayor,  Alcala,  98 

Mayor,  Cuenca,  97 

Mayor,  Osma,  96 

Mayor,  Palencia,  93 

—  Mayor,  Pamplona,  24 

—  Mayor,  Sevilla,  85 
Mayor,  Toledo,  73,  83 

-  Real,  Granada,  32,  72,  89 

-  Real,  Sevilla,  84 
Cantabrian  Provinces,  9 
Canceles,  129 
Caskets,  60 

Cast  iron,  5 
Castile,  12 

Catalonia,  2, 14,  67, 130 
Catalan  forge,  2,  4 


Celtiberian  sword,  1 
Cespedes,  Domingo  de,  82 
Celma,  Juan  Bautista,  99 
Chairs  in  iron,  126 
Charles  11,112 
Charles  V,  89,  90, 100 
Chat6n,  15 
Chest  fittings,  60, 113 
Churriguera,  128 
Churrigueresco,  128 
Cluniacs,  8,  9 
Colonnettes,  69 
Coloring  of  iron,  38 
C6rdova,  Mosque  of,  17 
Coro,  its  development,  76 

,  Palencia  Cathedral,  95 

,  Plasencia  Cathedral,  99 

,  Sevilla  Cathedral,  85,  87 

,  Toledo  Cathedral,  83 

Covarrubias,  Alonzo  de,  83 
Cresting,  40,  86,  90 
Crusades,  13 
Cruz  de  linde,  125 
Cutlery,  127 
Cuenca,  85,  96 


Damascening,  126 
Damascus,  127 
Delgado,  Juan,  85 
Diagonal  lattice,  27 
Door  ironwork,  14,  45,  52 
Doors  plated  with  iron,  18,  45 
Domestic  utensils,  2,  62 
Dos  Aguas,  Marques  de,  129 


Eastern  influence,  52 
Ebro,  3, 12,  47 
Egas,  Enrique  de,  69,  89 
Embossed  work,  90 
Escalera  Dorada,  93 


INDEX 


133 


Escorial,  128 
Escutcheon  plate,  14 
Estremadura,  44 


Ferdinand,  89,  90,  94 
Fernando  el  Santo,  20,  76,  91, 

110 
Fire  dogs,  67 

guards,  67 

screens,  67,  68 

Fixing  staples,  57, 115 
Flamboyant,  36,  41,  54 
Flemish  influence,  43,  63,  94 
Florence,  75, 107 
Fonseca,  Alonzo  de,  94,  98 
Font  cranes,  123 
Frances,  Juan,  43,  71, 82, 98, 108 
Francisco  de  Salamanca,  85,  86, 

108 
French  Gothic,  45 

hinges,  46 

balconies,  121 

keys,  111,  112 

locks,  56, 109 

Furnace,  open  hearth,  3 
Catalan  forge,  2,  4 


Gardner,  J.  Starkie,  7,  70,  71, 

112 

Gates,  102 

German  influence,  35,  36,  37,  59 
Gerona  Cathedral,  20 
Gestoso  y  Perez,  76 
Gilding  of  iron,  38 
Giralda  tower,  87, 125 
Gotico-florido  ironwork,  32,  40, 

54,94 

Gothic  style,  20 
Granada,  25,  32,  76, 104, 127 
Audiencia,  106 


Granada  Cathedral,  89 

,  Capilla  Real,  32,  72,  77, 89 

Granja,  La,  129 
Gridiron,  128 
Grilles,  9 

English,  9 

French,  9, 11 

Roman,  9 

Oriental,  12 

Greek  revival,  99, 118 
Grajal,  Count  of,  124 
Guadalupe,  87,  96 

H 

Hachero,  64 
Handrail  of  iron,  122 
Hasps,  56,  59 
Helve  hammer,  7 
Heraldry,  37,  39,  77,  90 
Hinges,  45 
Hood  of  knocker,  46 
Horizontal  member,  39,  74 
Hospital  de  Santa  Cruz,  Toledo, 
69,  102 

Real,  Santiago,  69, 121 

Huche,  61 

Huesca,  19 

Human  figure  in  iron,  29,  70,  74 

89 
Herrera,  106 

I 

Idrobo,  Diego  de,  85 
Interlaced  grilles,  27 
Isabella,  89,  90,  94 
Italian  influence,  69,  75,  77 


Ja6n,  90 


Keys,  109 

chamberlain,  112 


134 


INDEX 


Keys,  French,  111,  112 

Gothic,  111 

Italian,  111,  112 

master,  112 

—  Moorish,  109 
Renaissance,  111 

—  Spanish,  111 
Knockers,  14,  IS,  117 


Leon,  11, 124 

Leon  Cathedral,  20,  81 

,  N.  S.  del  Mercado,  11 

Lepoutre,  120 
Le  Puy-en-Velay,  9 
Llamador,  46 
Locks,  56, 109 

French,  56,  109 

Gothic,  56 

Renaissance,  116 

Spanish,  56 


Moorish  ironwork,  18 
Mudejar  style,  13,  53 

doors,  17 

Munez  Sancho,  85,  97 
Murcia,  127 

N 

Nailhead,  14,  46 
Nails,  15 
Napoleon,  83 

111,130 

Navarre,  10, 14 

O 

Oil  immersion,  7 

Open  hearth,  3 

Orfevrerie,  73 

Oriental  influence,  12, 13,  52 

Osma,  96,  98 

Oviedo,  96 


M 

Madrid,  17 

,  Museo,  Nacional,  17,  61 

,  Armeria,  101 

— .statue of  General  Prim,  128 
Malaga,  96 
Malleable  iron,  3,  5 
Manresa  Cathedral,  20 
Margaret  of  Spain,  61 
Marot,  120 
Marseille,  1 
Medina  de  Rioseco,  93 
Mendoza,  Cardinal,  102 
Miraflores,  Convent  of,  36,  86 
Morel,  Bartolome,  125 
Morey  family,  120 
Moors,  2,  8 
Moorish  doors,  45 

—  influence,  12,  52 
Moorish  bronze  work,  17 


Painting  of  iron,  38 
Palencia,  Antonio  de,  85 

11,94 

Cathedral,  11,  93 

,  San  Pablo,  25 

Palma  de  Mallorca,  119, 120, 129 

de  Mallorca,  Casa  Consis- 

torial,  122 

Paular,  Chartreuse  of,  86 
Pamplona,  10,  20,  24 
—  Cathedral,  24 
Pedro  Davila's  house,  27 
Penafiel,  Louis  de,  82 
Philip  V,  129 
Pilasters,  72 
Pilgrim  shell,  50, 115 
Plasencia,  123 

Cathedral,  96,  99 

Plateresque  style,  69,  77 
Pierced  lettering,  34,  35 


INDEX 


135 


Pompeii,  118 
Prehistoric  ironwork,  1 
Prentice,  Andrew,  97 
Prieto,  Fernando,  85 
Pulpits,  Gothic,  42 

Avila  Cathedral,  42 

Burgos,  San  Gil,  42 

Cortejana,  San  Salvador,  44 

Murcia  Cathedral,  44 

Renaissance,  84, 106 

-  Avila  Cathedral,  107 

Burgos,  Monastery  of  Las 

Huelgas,  109 

Sevilla  Cathedral,  87, 108 

Toledo  Cathedral,  108 

Pyrenean  Provinces,  9,  51 

R 

Reja,  9 
Rejero,  20 
Relojero,  Juan,  96 
Renaissance  style,  51,  69,  78 

church  rejas,  80 

Repousse,  40, 107 
Rodriguez,  Bartolome,  82 

Gaspar,  95,  96 

Romanesque  style,  8 

rejas,  8 

Romans,  1,  9,  62 
Rusinol  Santiago,  126 
Rust,  prevention  of,  7 


Salamanca,  27 

,  Catedral  Vieja,  35 

,  Casa  de  las  Conchas,  27, 33 

,  Archiepiscopal  Palace,  27 

University,  72, 102 

Santa  Colma  de  Queralt,  122 

Croce,  Florence,  197 

Maria  del  Mar,  Barcelona, 

19 


San  Pablo,  Palencia,  25 

Clemente,  Rome,  77 

Millan,  Segovia,  46 

Vincente,  Avila,  11 

Santiago  de  Compostella,  34, 121 
Saracenic  influence,  11, 13 
Segovia,  51,  96,  97 

Cathedral,  103 

,  Duque  de,  collection,  58, 97 

Sevilla,  25,  87,  127 

—  Cathedral,  39,  84, 108 
— ,  Casa  de  Pilatos,  75, 104 

,  Giralda  tower,  87,  125 

Sheathed  doors,  18,  45 
Sheathed  columns,  72,  88,  90 
Siloe,  Diego  de,  93 
Silva,  Francisco  de,  82 
Siguenza,  30,  80 

Cathedral,  37,  72 

Smelting,  2 

Smiths 

Andino,  Cristobal  de,  85, 

91,94 

Andino,  Pedro  de,  85 

Arenas,  Hernando  de,  97 

Bartolome,  Maestre,  85,  89 

Bravo,  Francisco,  83 

Celrna,  Juan  Bautista,  99 

Cespedes,  Domingo,  82 

Delgado,  Juan,  85 

Frances,  Juan,  42,  82,  98 

Francisco  de  Salamanca,  85, 

108 

Idrobo,  Diego  de,  85 

Morey,  Juan,  120 

Morey,  Pedro,  120 

—  Mufiez  Sancho,  85 

Palencia,  Antonio  de,  85 

Penafiel,  Louis  de,  82 

Prieto,  Fernando,  85 

Rodriguez,  Bartolome,  82 

—  Rodriguez,  Gaspar,  95,  96 
Silva,  Francisco  de,  82 


136 


INDEX 


Villalpando,  Francesco  de, 

82 

Urisarri,  Lopez  de,  96 

Yepes,  Juan  de,  85 

Relojero,  Juan,  96 

South  Kensington  Museum,  126 

Spindles,  32,  69,  70 

Split  bar,  31 

Simon  of  Cologne,  36 

St.  Sernin,  Toulouse,  21 

St.  Swithin  grille,  Winchester,  9 

Steel,  S 

Street,  George,  18,  24,  74 

Strozzi  Palace,  Florence,  75 

Superimposing  of  plates,  40,  41 

Swords,  1 


Table  braces,  125 
Tarragona  Cathedral,  18,  82 
Threaded  work,  22,  40 
Toledo,  25,  27,  82 

Cathedral,  20,  27,  45 

Count  of,  34, 105 

Hospital  de  Santa  Cruz,  69, 

102 

Tomb  rails,  35,  36 
Tools,  78 
Tortosa,  96 
Toro,  26 

Torch  holders,  64 
Toulouse,  21 
Tuyere,  4 


U 
Urisarri,  Lopez  de,  96 


Valencia,  96 
Varga,  113 
Vargueno,  113 
Vasari,  75 
Venice,  17 
Venetian  grilles,  17 
Vergas,  14,  35 
Vertical  bars,  21,  29 
Vich,  11 

Museum,  11,  51,  62,  64 

Villalpando,  Francesco  de,  87 
Viollet-le-Duc,  21 
Visigoths,  2,  8, 16 

W 

Weather  vanes,  125 
Welding,  5,  71 
Well  cranes,  123 
Window  rejas,  25, 103 


Yepes,  Juan  de,  85 


Zamora,  36 
Zaragoza,  96, 100 
Zapata,  Don  Gonzalo,  95 


CATALOGUE  OF  IRONWORK   IN  THE 

COLLECTION  OF  THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY 

OF  AMERICA 

NUMBER 
1-    2  Decorative  nails  or  bosses,  Moorish  half-orange 

type. 
3-    9  Decorative  door  bosses  with  separate  nails,  XV 

and  XVI  Century. 

10-  Moorish  bosse  with  fixed  nail. 

11-  Spanish  bosse  with  separate  nail. 

12-  Moorish  bosse  with  fixed  nail. 

13-  14  Moorish  nails  from  a  door  in  the  Alhambra, 

Granada. 

15-  18  Typical  keys  of  the  XVII  Century. 
19-  20  Ornamental  door  bosses,  XVI  Century. 
21-  25  Keys,  XVI  and  XVII  Century. 
26-  34  Various  types  of  nails  from  the  XV  to  the  XVII 

Century. 
35-  40  Spanish  door  bosses  of  Moorish  design. 

41-  Aragonese  key,  XIV  Century. 

42-  46  Elaborate  door  bosses,  Moorish  or  half-orange 

type. 

47-  Door  knocker,  earliest  appearance  of  flat  crown 

design,  about  1400. 

48-  Door  knocker,  first  appearance  of  half-crown 

motif. 


138      CATALOGUE    OF    THE    COLLECTION 

49-  50  Door  knockers,  half  crown  motif,  XVI  Century. 

51-  Door  knocker,  flat  crown  design,  XVII  Century. 

52-  Door  knocker,  entirely  forged,  XV  Century. 

53-  54  Detached  hammers  of  knockers,  XVI  Century. 

55-  Door  knocker  with  incised  patterning,  XV  Cen- 

tury. 

56-  Door  knocker  with  incised  patterning,  XVI  Cen- 

tury. 

57^-  58  Bosses  used  as  backplates  for  knockers,  Moorish 
design,  XV  Century. 

59-  60  Bosses,  Moorish  patterning. 

61-  64  Door  ring  handles  with  clinch,  XV  and  XVI  Cen- 
tury. 

65-  Hammer  of  Knocker. 

66-  Ring  handle  with  bosse  and  clinch,  XVI  Cen- 

tury. 

67-  Detached  hammer  of  knocker,  probably  XV  Cen- 

tury. 

68-  Door  ring  handle,  Moorish  in  character,  XV  Cen- 

tury. 

69-  Door  knocker,  Moorish  design,  XV  Century. 

70-  Gothic  door  knocker,  split  bar  type,  XVI  Cen- 

tury. 

71-  73    Pair  of  door  knockers,  Gothic  in  spirit,  XV  Cen- 

tury. 

72-  Door   ring  handle,  Mudejar  (Gothic-Moorish), 

XVI  Century. 

74-  Gothic  door  knocker,  stirrup  pattern,  XV  Cen- 

tury. 

75-  Door  knocker  with  pilgrim  shell,  XVII  Century. 

76-  Pair  of  striker  heads,  XVII  Century. 


CATALOGUE    OF    THE    COLLECTION      139 

77-  Door  ring  handle,  Moorish  in  character,  XV  Cen- 

tury. 

78-  Bosse  backplate  of  a  knocker,  XVII  Century. 

79-  Door  ring  knocker,  Mudejar,  XV  Century. 

80-  81  Pair  of  ring  knockers,  Gothic,  XV  Century. 

82-  Door  ring  knocker,  Moorish  in  character,  XV 

Century. 

83-  Door  ring  handle,  Mudejar,  XVI  Century. 

84-  Pilgrim  shell  knocker,  XVI  Century. 

85-  Door  ring  knocker,  Mudejar,  XV  Century. 

86-  Door  knocker,  Mudejar,  XVII  Century. 

87-  Door  knocker,  stirrup  pattern,  Mudejar,  XVII 

Century. 

88-  Detached  hammer  of  a  knocker,  XVI  Century. 

89-  Door  ring  handle,  Moorish  in  character,  XVI 

Century. 

90-  Detached  hammer  of  a  knocker,  XVII  Century. 

91-  Door  ring  knocker,  Moorish  in  character,  XVI 

Century. 

92-  Detached  hammer  of  a  knocker,  XVI  Century. 

93-  Door  ring  knocker,  XVII  Century. 

94-  Detached   hammer  of  a  door   knocker,  XVII 

Century. 

95-  Door  ring  handle,  example  of  rich  Mudejar,  XVI 

Century. 

96-  Door  knocker,  star   pattern   in   rich  Mudejar, 

XVI  Century. 
97         Door  ring  knocker,  Moorish  in  character,  XVI 

Century. 
98-        Detached  striker  of  a  knocker. 


140      CATALOGUE    OF    THE    COLLECTION 

99-        Door  ring  knocker,  Moorish  in  character,  XVII 
Century. 

100-  Door  knocker,   backplate,  and  fixing  staples, 

XVII  Century. 

101-  Door  knocker,  XVII  Century. 

102-  Door  knocker  and  handle,  XVII  Century. 

103-  Door  knocker,  stirrup  pattern,  Mudejar,  XVII 

Century. 

104-  Door  knocker  with  Moorish  bosse,  XVI  Cen- 

tury. 

105-  Late  Gothic  plaque  worked  in  repousse. 

106-  Door  knocker,  Gothic  in  spirit,  XVI  Century. 

107-  Gothic  lockplate.  • 

108-  Lock  and  hasp  with  false  fixing  staple  over  key- 

hole.   XVI  Century. 

109-  Lock  and  hasp  with  false  fixing  staple  over  key- 

hole, XVI  Century. 

110-  Door  knocker,  late  Gothic  in  style,  XVII  Cen- 

tury. 

111-  Door   knocker,    French   flamboyant    in   char- 

acter, late  XVI  Century. 

112-  Gothic  lock  with  curious  hasp,  XV  Century. 

113-  Chest  lock,  XVI  Century. 

114-  Lock-box   and   hasp   in   rich   Mudejar  style, 

probably  XVII  Century. 

115-  Lockplate  and  hasp,  Renaissance,  XVII  Cen- 

tury. 

116-  Small  detached  hammer  of  a  door  knocker. 

117-  Door  knocker,  Gothic  in  spirit  but  probably 

XVIII  Century. 

118-  Lock  with  slide-plate,  Gothic,  XV  Century. 


CATALOGUE    OF    THE    COLLECTION      141 

119-  Lockplate  and  hasp,  XVI  Century. 

120-  Detached  hammer  of  a  door  knocker. 

121-  Chest  lock  and  hasp,  Renaissance,  XVI  Cen- 

tury. 

122-  Door  knocker,  Renaissance,  early  XVII  Cen- 

tury. 

123-  Door  knocker,  Aragonese  in  type,  XVII  Cen- 

tury. 

124-  Knocker,  backplate  Renaissance,  hammer  Greek 

revival,  XVIII  Century. 

125-  Door  knocker,  Aragonese  in  type,  XVII  Cen- 

tury. 

126-  Lock  and  hasp,  Renaissance,  XVI I  Century. 

127-  Chest  lock  and  hasp,  XVII  Century. 

128-  Door  knocker,  XVII  Century. 

129-  Vargueno  lockplate  and  hasp,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

130-  Door  knocker,  Greek  revival,  XVIII  Century. 
131-133  Pair  of  door  knockers,  Renaissance,  XVII  Cen- 
tury. 

132-        Spanish  bit  with  ornaments  for  warding  off  the 
evil  eye.    XVII  Century. 

134-  Vargueno    lockplate    and    hasp,    Renaissance, 

XVII  Century. 

135-  Pair  of  Renaissance  fixing  staples,  XVI  Cen- 

tury. 

136-  Detached  hammer  of  a  knocker,  XVIII  Cen- 

tury. 

137-  Vargueno  lockplate  and  hasp,  Renaissance,  XVI I 

Century. 

138-  Door  knocker,  Renaissance,  XVII  Century. 


142      CATALOGUE    OF    THE    COLLECTION 

139-  Spur  of  a  Conquistador,  XVI  Century. 

140-  Stirrup  of  a  Conquistador,  XVI  Century. 

141-  Pocket-knife. 

142-  Door  knocker,  Renaissance,  XVII  Century. 

143-  Heraldic   cartouche,  beaten    in   repousse"    and 

colored.    XVII  Century. 

144-  Repousse  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

145-  Pierced  band  from  a  reja,  Gothic,  XV  Century. 

146-  Repousse  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

147-  Tracery  band  built  up  of  two  plates,  Gothic, 

XV  Century. 

148-  Repousse  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

149-  Tracery  band  built  up  of  two  plates,  Gothic, 

XV  Century. 

150-  Pierced  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

151-  Repousse  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

152-  Repousse  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

153-  Pierced  band  from  a  reja,  Gothic,  XV  Century. 

154-  Pair  of  foliated  sprigs,  Renaissance,  XVI I  Cen- 

tury. 

155-  Pierced  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  XVI 

Century. 

156-  Repousse  band  with  delicate  figures,  Renais- 

sance, XVI  Century. 


CATALOGUE    OF    THE    COLLECTION      143 

157-  Repousse  band  from  a  reja,  Renaissance,  early 

XVI  Century. 

158-  Repousse  band,  dolphin  pattern,  Renaissance, 

XVI  Century. 

159-  Pierced  band  from  a  reja,  Gothic,  XV  Century. 

160-  Crude  border  in  three  pieces. 

161-  Celtiberian  sword,  found  at  Amarejo. 
162-163  Pair  of  ecclesiastical  candelabras,  XVI  Century. 
164-       Two  storied  brazier,  XVII  Century. 

165-168  Four  spindles  and  their  pedestals,  from  a  reja, 
XVI  Century. 

169-  Incomplete  cresting  of  a  reja,  from  northern 

Spain,  XVII  Century. 

170-  Pair  of  gates,  XVII  Century. 

171-174  Set  of  four  iron  chairs  of  the  XVII  Century. 

175-176  Pair  of  brackets,  XVII  Century. 

177-  Iron  strong  box. 

178-179  Pair  of  crowning  pinnacles,  XV  Century. 

180-  Portion  of  a  Gothic  arch,  XV  Century. 


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